Ramps, Quacks and Laughs

The Saturday after Thanksgiving Marc had a great idea to take the kids out for the day to some different parks. We even had the opportunity to have Fifi (I don't think I have a blog name for her yet, so that is what it is…) with us for the day so she got to hang out with us too.

I dare say that everyone had a great time.

The skate park was our first stop.

I felt VERY out of my element as I walked into the sea of cement ramps, bowls and jumps amongst a school of talented skaters and scooters of all types. I kind of laughed inside as our motley crew came galloping into the cement sanctuary with giggles, screams and more giggles.

The seasoned skaters were kind enough to let our little group have our own little spot in the park and our kids and Fifi had a ball on the scooters we brought. Brother, though, was on his roller blades. He was along the wall most of the time so it was very exciting to see him adventuring out into the middle of the park.

Sister, Baby, Fifi and me… yes me. Trust me it didn't last long. I'm realizing I'm no Spring Chicken… who in the heck came up with that term anyway? Ha! I don't know, but it reminds me of something my dad would say.

Two "pros" on the left and then Baby sitting down, Sister on top, me on the other side challenging Sister to ride up that high and Fifi and Brother taking a break.

Baby was so happy to have infinite hard surface area to gallop her little ponies on.
 Luckily we made it through the entire event without her being flattened by anyone.

Brother still getting used to his sea legs.

Yep, she played horses the whole time. We even brought her scooter but only
 Fifi got any use out of that… you'll see in a few pics.

Marc, Sister and Baby in the shade

This was one of those proud moments where Sister was trying the ramps with daddy
and Brother was venturing into the middle freestyle!

Marc even got on the scooter for a bit.
And in this pic and the one below you will see how Baby's scooter was put to good use...

This was just before we left he was wanting to venture over to be near all the cool kids on the other side of the park.

Then we went to another park and started off on the swings.

They were HUGE swings.

Usually Baby like to swing as high as she can… I think this swing, though, was asking a little much of her bravery… if you zoom in, you'll see the fear on her face…

Here, I zoomed in for you… she also has a mouth full of chocolate so it looks more dramatic...

Fifi was having fun with her Super Woman skills

This is Brother trying to be like Fifi… hmmm… close...

After the big swing we went across the park to the duck pond. Someone had a bunch of bread crumbs and had attracted all the ducks that were in the pond onto the shore. Our kids thought it was awesome, mostly Baby, she wanted to get right in there.

It wasn't long before Baby's antics herded them all back into the pond. Brother was a bit terrified as he stood on his, once safe rock, above and away from the ducks while they all swarmed toward him.

There were a lot and it was cool to watch so many of them all in one spot. I get excited to see 3 or 4 in one spot, so this will make all other duck sitings pale in comparison.

After the pond we played on the small playground that was there and just laughed and acted goofy on the playground equipment.

It's good to laugh with our kids.

We do laugh a lot.

At home.

It's neat when our kids can laugh freely outside of our home without inhibition to surrounding strangers they are usually nervous around. I love when we can get past the melt-downs and freak-outs and still push forward to do something together as a family that does not include our home or another family member's, just a good old public place.

P.S. I hope you read that above sentence right, I don't love melt-downs or freak-outs! I despise them. They're horrible. I love when they don't conquer our family.

AND

If you haven't taken your kids to a park in while, you should try it! It was a lot of fun… and stress… but, mostly fun! And don't forget the camera so you can remember the fun parts.