Outside Play

After a few quick errands, we started yesterday out at the park.  It was just too beautiful not to be outside. So we headed to a park we haven't visited in a while.  Where I was reminded that the kids see no danger. They almost got clobbered by the baby swings.  Twice.  They had a ball playing on the see-saw-bouncy thing (not like the terrible slam-you-into-the-ground-things that we had when we were younger), swinging (still their favorite park activity), sliding, crawling through the tunnel, and climbing up and down the stairs on the equipment pretty darn well if I do say so myself.  Then it was home for lunch, naps, and another outside surprise.

I spent a large part of nap time setting up for said surprises (and a good portion of my time after the kids went down for the night cleaning up).  But it was such fun to see them outside and roaming.  In their summer clothes no less!  Speaking of summer clothes, I busted out my white capri pants yesterday.  Big mistake.  Outside play = not white-pant friendly.  Don't know who was dirtier, me or the kids by the time it was all over with.  Thank goodness for Oxiclean!

I pulled the wading pool out of storage and filled it with cushions, twin dogs to cuddle with and a book bin.  Reading books is fun.  Reading outside in a pool...  way much funner.    Also, I emptied the sand/water table (normally filled with sand) and refilled it with brown and black beans.  Turns out they don't work great in the funnels and wheels, but they were super fun for scooping and pouring.  I took the lid from the sandbox and carried it a ways off.  Knowing the kids would climb over it like playground equipment.  Which they did.  Until they had pretty much mastered walking up and over it...  alone.  Yikes.  We also had a picnic snack, then the kids rode trikes on the back patio to see how brick felt under the wheels, and played with balls in the backyard.  They sat in Mommy's beach chair and thought they were big stuff.  We walked in the last of the fall leaves by the shed and made leaf showers.  We threw and kicked a ball in the grass, then drew on the bricks with sidewalk chalk (it's great how the bricks are like little picture frames).   Outside fun, times two!!!