The Playground Adventures

A friend and I wanted to get together with our kiddos the other day and she mentioned her eldest daughter was itching to go to this particular park/playground, so we decided to meet up there.  She was running a little late, so the kids and I explored a bit while we were waiting.

Baylor made the climb to the top of the tallest slide!

And Mollie tried to follow him.

But one look at how high up he was and he turned around and came down.

Both kids encountered a little difficulty descending the stairs on the big kids equipment.

Soon we moved on to more age-appropriate fun, and Baylor schooled this other little boy about the finer points of tic-tac-toe.  Okay, he mainly just told him that there were X's and O's, but it was cute nonetheless.

Mollie tried to go up the little slide ... *sigh*.

And at one point she fell down and didn't get up for a bit.  I don't know whether she was just tired and needed a break or she couldn't get back up because she didn't want to put her hands down (the more likely scenario), but either way I had to help her get up.

She was okay, though, and soon got into the fun, playing with some textured, spin-able cylinders.

A true one year-old, she quickly moved on to something else.  Waving to people out the porthole is so much fun!

Then it was time for a quick slide down one of the few slides that wasn't scorching hot from the sun.

Then Baylor started playing with this little boy, a huge deal because he usually clams up around kids he doesn't know.  The more embarrassing part came, though, when Baylor asked him, "Do you know what this says?"  The boy answered, "No."  Baylor said, "It says 'general store'."  (Someone had told him that previously.)  Then he pointed to the G and asked the boy, "What letter is this?  ...  And what sound does it make?"  Ughhhhh ... apparently he likes to school other children on the finer points of spelling and phonics.

Mollie, meanwhile, got to hop into one of the baby swings and had an absolute blast!

When she and I returned, Baylor was still playing with the little boy.  As it turns out, that is the grandson of one of my mom's good friends (and my former first grade teacher)!  Small world, huh?  They seemed to get along well and even chatted a bit here and there!

Mollie was both irritated and intrigued by the wood chips; they were difficult for her to walk on, but they were small and easily picked up - and thrown.  She didn't like having little bits of dirt and wood on her hands, though, so she spent a little time shaking them off after each throwing session.

Baylor was the most outgoing with other kids that I've ever seen him.  At one point, he even ran off with a bunch of older boys, just trying to get in on the fun.  Yes, he soon made his way back, but it gave me hope that he won't be so very shy after all.

Mollie and my friend's daughter, Anna, wandered around the little kids' area.  Anna was very interested in spending time with Mollie for whatever reason, so she often took her hand to gently lead her around.  It was quite adorable.

Eventually all four kids were playing together in one spot, which was nice because Janice and I finally got a minute to chat!

Soon enough, though, Anna and Baylor ran off to the bigger kids' area.  Baylor was curious about the tires used in the playground and seemed to think that they would eventually end up on a car.

Keeping our eyes on the big kids, we let the little ladies play in the toddler area for a little longer.  Mollie even tried out the slightly wobbly foot bridge!

As we made our way over to the big kids' play set, I saw this sight ...

... followed closely by this one!

Yup, after seeing Anna go down the biggest slide in the park, Baylor was emboldened enough to try it himself without any encouragement from me!  I was both very proud and slightly terrified of this fact.

He and Anna then moved on to the second biggest slide in the park and tried that one out, too!

On a side note ... earlier in the day, before Janice and her kids got to the park, I saw this odd piece of playground equipment and decided to try it out myself.  Basically, you get up on one of those little platforms so you can reach the handle above, grab on, and swing yourself in a circle around the center pole.  It was pretty fun ... until I knocked Baylor over with my butt.  He wasn't hurt or upset, but I felt awful and banned myself from that contraption.

After a quick ride on the merry-go-round ...

... we figured out the kids were pretty hungry, so we picked up some lunch at Wendy's and headed back to our house.

There, Mollie decided she wanted to be good friends with Janice.

And since Mollie, being the particular little girl she is, won't let just anyone hold her - let alone go to someone and asked to be picked up by them - it was a special occasion to be sure.

We had a lovely little playground adventure, one I hope we'll be able to repeat sometime very soon.