A Beautiful Day at the Park!

Yesterday I took the kids to the neighborhood park. It was a glorious, warm January day! It's a 10 minute walk (downhill) from the house...which means the return trip is a good 20 minutes all uphill pushing 100 lbs of stroller and babies! This was Madi's first time really "going to the park" to play. Darrin is already a pro on the equipment, which is sized perfectly for him. That's a plus since I can keep a watchful eye on him and still be free to chase Madi...or pull her off the slide, or keep her from eating leaves!



Miss Madi relished being able to run free, as best a 1-year-old can run, I suppose. :o) She immediately attempted to climb up the slide and made pretty good progress. Does that tell you anything about her personality? Darrin joined her in her endeavors, then happily scampered off to conquer the "swirly" slide solo. I don't know when my son became fearless; okay, maybe "fearless" isn't the right word...blissfully ignorant, maybe? He is cautious, yet I think he is confident he will be perfectly safe on anything...such as the rope ladder I found him halfway up when my attention was averted to his escaping sister! My mommy brain said not to move suddenly or make it more than it was, just to calmly request that he not climb there unless I could be there to assist him (read: maintain constant physical contact in case he aborted the mission). Luckily I listened to my brain and waited (with my hands poised to catch him!) as he carefully climbed back down.

Meanwhile, Madi discovered that there was "more" beyond the playground. She didn't know where she was headed, only that it was off into the wild brownish-greenish grassy yonder of freedom...and isn't it so funny to make Mommy run and chase her?! I'd catch her and try to lead her back to the play equipment (all the while hoping Darrin hadn't headed right back to that rope ladder), and she'd come complacently only to immediately turn, cackle, and run off again the instant she wormed her hand out of mine. I really don't think she had a goal, just to see how far she could go. But for a child that doesn't care for grassy lawns, the 2 softball outfields she was directed towards would have pulled her up short, I'm certain!

All in all we had a wonderful time. It's a beautiful park, though extremely hot in the summer and most of the fall. I think this will become part of our regular outings now that they can both enjoy themselves there. :o)

Sweet Siblings!


At least she's polite enough to point to where she's heading!


Oh, if only we had water running through this creekbed...


Our precious kiddos!