Lunch

On Sunday the family went out to my hometown for the parade that precedes the fair.  The fair comes to town every year around this time and going to the parade is part of the experience.  Leading up to the parade the kids already had a full day.  For lunch we took advantage of the unseasonably great weather and ate at a local park.  Mom and I had Subway sandwiches, Alyce had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or as she likes to call it a "jelly sammich", and Luke had Similac soy formula (yum). 

After lunch Mom and I took turns watching Alyce as she took turns on the play ground equipment.  Alyce rode on some slides, climbed through tunnels, swung on the swings, climbed ladders, and for the first time rode a merry-go-round.  Alyce didn't ride the biggest slides.  She tried but upon sitting at the top she said they were too hot and didn't try again.  I can't blame her, the slides were warm and I'm glad that she made a decision based upon information (feeling the slide).

 

While one of us was with Alyce the other was with Luke.  Luke had a pretty good time at the park too.  While we were eating Luke was in his car seat looking up at the sky through the shade trees above us.  After some lunch he drifted in and out of sleep enjoying the cool breeze in his car seat.  Two hours at the park then we had to get the kids off for a nap in order to go to the parade later.

Mom and I really enjoyed the leisurely Sunday all thanks to an empty schedule and great weather.

Perfect Friday At The Park

Last Friday Mom loaded the kids into the car and met me for lunch. I picked up some sandwiches and we ate at the park. The weather was perfect; warm in the sun with a constant cool breeze.


Alyce ate her lunch of pb&j rather quickly because she wanted to play on the slide, and the only way we would let her was if she finished lunch. She was in such a hurry when she finished we asked if she wanted to play on the slide or have a cookie and she responded with "Slide". Either the cookies aren't that good or the slide was that important.

Alyce's agility is increasing. Every time she has access to a playground she is more able to do things by herself. Her being more able doesn't mean that I am less vigilant. Whenever Alyce walks past an opening on a high piece of playground equipment my heart races a bit. This time at the playground Alyce did two things that impressed me. The first was that she found a football, picked it up, carried up to top of the slide, and let it roll back down. She enjoyed its irregular shape and odd bounces as it traveled down the slide.

The second item was Alyce's trip up the jungle gym bars. These bars transition from a climbing experience to a walking one where feet and arm placement is important. She climbed up the first vertical part without any problem and managed the second horizontal well little trouble. I held onto her the entire time with my hands supporting her around her chest. When Alyce was on the flat section I could feel her heart pumping in her chest and her breath quicken as she moved each foot from pole to pole. She must have been under a lot of stress but didn't complain or want to go back down. When it was all over and she was on top of the slide she beaming with pride with Mom and I beaming as well.

Other items of note during this trip to the park was that Luke got to go on his first trip down a slide. He had assistance from mom and didn't really have an opinion on the whole experience.

Day At The Park: Part 2

Last Saturday we made our second attempt at getting to ride the trains at the park. The first attempt, while fun ended with us not riding the trains. This trip to the park ended in success.


When we arrived at the park we were expecting to see tons of people as the skies were fair and the temperature a bit hot. To our delight the event was lightly attended. We had to walk a ways to get to the trains and with Alyce and Luke in tow we had a ton of gear to bring with us. Mom and I took turns riding the trains with Alyce and taking care of Luke.

The first train we rode wasn't steam powered but it was the most reliable of the trains. Apparently running a miniature scale steam train has some maintenance issues as both of the steam trains had some lengthy downtime. Alyce took to the trains very quickly. We spent a few minutes watching them go around and then stood in line for our first ride. Alyce sat in front of me and we were off. The track was probably less than 1/8th of a mile but we got to go around 3 times. As we rode past Mommy I got Alyce to let go of me long enough to wave hi.

The second train ride for Alyce was with Mommy again on the non steam powered train. Alyce did just as good for Mom as she did for me. I was even able to get a few quick shots of them as they came by while feeding Luke at the same time.

The third and last train ride of the day was thankfully on the steam train. This miniature steam train was just like the real thing. The engineer has to shovel coal into the firebox, stoke the fire, and apply water for steam. The power generated by such a small device was impressive. This little train was able to pull three car loads of adults and children around the track.

After the train rides we headed back towards the car. Alyce wanted to play on the slide but Mom and Luke were getting hot. We compromised by Mom taking Luke into the car for some AC and I took Alyce on the slide for 5 trips down the slide. Surprisingly enough Alyce was ok with just going 5 times. The last two times she wanted to ride with me!

We had a great time at the park. We spent some good quality family time and the price (free) was right. Next time we need to bring Pa Pa. I think he would be a big fan of the trains.

Day At The Park

Today Mom and I wanted to have a day of just Alyce and us. We thought that just the three of us time would be good for everyone. I am happy to say that it was a success. While our original plans didn't completely pan out what we did end up doing was enjoyed by all.


Earlier this week we had heard a story of new attraction opening up. The attraction was miniature steam train that would pull mini train cars of people sitting single file. We thought something like a miniature train would be cool for the family to enjoy together. Before the train ride we took Alyce to McDonald's for lunch. Alyce behaved herself for the most part and she got a neat toy with her happy meal.

After lunch we ventured to the park and this is where our plans took a turn. It turns out that the train doesn't open for another week. While this would normally be a large problem it didn't turn out that way. We didn't build up the train ride as much as we built up time together. We made the most of the outing by making use playground equipment at the same park.

The slides at the park were just her size and the skies were overcast so there wasn't any danger of being burned by hot plastic parts. At first Alyce was a bit apprehensive of the slides and just wanted to go up and down the stairs. After a few minutes of that I sat down for a slide and she wanted to ride in my lap. After the first ride she was hooked. She and I rode the slide time and time again. Alyce eventually built up the courage to try a slide herself. This burst of courage was interesting in that there was no pause to her actions. She simply walked past me, sat down, and went down the slide. She didn't wait for my approval or any other question I had for her. She just did it. Her slide riding skills have also improved. She stayed upright and was in complete control the whole time.

We did take a break from the slides to go take a look at the trains. The group that was setting up the trains and the tracks were there putting the finishing touches on everything. We told Alyce that we would come back and ride the trains next weekend.

Alyce had some first time experiences while at the park. On the way to the train we taught her how to pick dandelion seeds and blow them to the wind. She doesn't have the lung power to do it by herself, but she thought all the seeds scattering to the wind was great. Alyce also climbed up a slide for the first time. While heading back towards the stairs Alyce watched an older girl climb up the baby slide. Alyce must have thought doing that was pretty cool as she followed the older girl right up the slide. While this isn't something we would encourage it was very nice to see that Alyce is branching and taking some chances.


It started raining and we used that as a signal it was time to go. Alyce didn't mind much as wet slides don't go very fast. We very much enjoyed our day with Alyce and I think she liked it too. It was a good reminder of how fun kids could be. I hope Alyce can build upon this experience to realize that her world isn't collapsing just building into something a bit different and hopefully better.

An Evening At The Park

Last night we wanted to get out of the house and decided to go to a play ground. We went to the playground at the early childhood development center where they have lots of playground equipment appropriate for Alyce's age. We left for the playground after Alyce's nap and dinner putting us there a little before 7:00.

Alyce must have seen something when we pulled into the parking lot because she started squealing with delight even before we stopped the car. Once across the parking lot she practically ran to the playground.

I did most of the playing with Alyce because Mom was feeling tired and a little sick. Alyce rode every slide on the playground about about a million times and never seemed to tire of them. Alyce also walked across the some stepping stones, and we spent some time pretending to drive a red jeep.

As the evening wore on we knew that we were going to be leaving soon so we tried some advice to make a transition to a new activity easier on Alyce. Five minutes before we left we told Alyce that she had 3 more trips on the slide then it was time to go. Of course she responded with her stereotypical "No." We gave her additional reminders every time she went down the slide until the last time. When we told her it was the last time on the slide she climbed up the slide and then started to procrastinate. Eventually she did make it down the slide and we had to stand firm to our earlier statement on it being time to leave. Naturally Alyce wasn't very happy with that decision, but rather than throw a tantrum she got little unhappy and picked up a hand full of bark mulch.

Deciding to cut our losses we let Alyce carry her bark all the way back to the car. When we got the car Alyce dropped the mulch onto the ground, waved bye to it, and said bye-bye. Such a polite little girl.