playtime

The best part about summertime is the fact that there are way more playtime options. It gets so old putting on hats and gloves and figuring out what to do when it's freeeeezing out. During the summer, it's pretty and green. There are waterparks and outdoor concerts/movies/festivals and lots and lots of parks to explore.

Lately, we've been taking advantage of the awesome warm weather. Before too long, it'll be ridiculously hot and humid. I'm soaking up the cooler warm weather while I can.

Last week, we met up with a couple of friends. I guess you could call this Noah's first official "playdate", although it was with two little girls who are older then he is, and he was pretty much oblivious to their existence. But still. It counts, right? Or do they actually have to play together for it to be an official playdate? Who makes these rules? Where's Emily Post when you need her?

Anyway, we met up at the water fountain (the one that won me Mother of the Year). It was Noah, Alice, and Sidney (not sure if I spelled her name right). We moms sat on the bench and ignored the fact that none of our kids were actually playing in the fountain. And I'm pretty sure we were all doing our best to forget we even had kids for at least 10 minutes.

It really is comical to see how differently wired kids are. Alice was dancing, Sidney was strolling around, and Noah? Well... I'll give you one guess.

Yep. Dirt.

The boy loves some dirt. And when he wasn't digging in it? He was throwing it in the fountain. Pretty sure the other moms loved that. Oh well. It won't hurt 'em. After a few minutes of whining and failing miserably at trying to get our kids to play in the water, we gave up and went for some frozen yogurt.

I was a little confused as to how Noah went from being enthralled with the fountain a few nights before to totally avoiding it. But I think I've solved it... I was prepared. Had he been in normal clothes (and not in a swimsuit), he probably would've been all over it. Live and learn.

When we're not trying to force our kid into water gushing from the ground, we try out new parks. That's been my thing lately, looking for new playgrounds. And so far, I've been pretty successful. We found one nearby that looks like a castle. It has a toddler area and a big kid area, and about a bajillion swings.

Isn't this the coolest swing you've ever seen?

Yesterday, I took him to a park that's like 10 minutes down the road. It's probably one of my favorites now. It's shady and pretty. There's a gorgeous fountain surrounded by trees and park benches. Nevermind the guy sitting with his girlfriend, obviously arguing with his mom on the phone. Awkweeeerd.

There's a middle school right behind (in front of?) it. The restrooms are decent, and there's a concession stand open in case you forgot an extra snack. After school is out, a bunch of the kids walk over and hang out by the stand. None of them are rowdy, and there's a cop that hangs out nearby to keep an eye on them. All I kept hearing was "Can I borrow a dollar?" or "Hey, you owe me a dollar!" Don't yall miss those days where a buck made you rich?

I digress.

While Noah does enjoy slides and swings and all, he's my little explorer. He loves to roam and would much rather run up and down hills than wait for his turn on a swing.

    

    

And yall know this trip wouldn't be complete without some sort of dirt being involved, right?

And just to add a little icing onto the cake, there happens to be a train track next to the park (behind the fence in the above picture). We happened to be in the right place at the right time, because as we were hanging out on that little hill, we heard the loudest train ever pass by the park. Noah was fascinated.



Hope everyone's having a fabulous week!