Trip to the Park

So, I have been easing back into some of our normal activities. Things like going to the store or to the park (walking there) are a little bit more tricky with 3 instead of 2 in tow. Last night I took the kids to the park by myself for the first time. I guess I should clarify. I have taken the kids to the park, but we have driven. Last night was the first time I braved a walk with all of us.

Andrew took to the sidewalk on his 3-wheel scooter, Natalie pushed herself along on her little push and ride racer, and I pushed James in the stroller. We got there in great form. The park in our neighborhood is several streets away, so we get to cross a few streets and then we turn down a sidewalk that runs right through the park and down to the playground.

Andrew was doing great on the scooter. He would mostly stop at each corner and wait for us to get there before he crossed the street (the push and ride racer was a little slow ;-)). He scooted on ahead to where the path down through the park started. And when I say "down" I mean it is a pretty good little hill for a few feet. So Andrew disappears down that path before I had arrived--I was a little curious of what I would see when I got there. I don't think he has ever really tried to "scoot" downhill before. As I came up on the path, there he was, pushing that leg as fast as he could to keep up with the downhill speed, but still on the scooter and looking like he was in pretty good control. He was so excited that he had done it when he got to the bottom of the hill, but it kind of wore him out I think. He wasn't really able to scoot the same after that ;-)

Natalie had given up riding her bike because even with pushing with her legs as fast as she could, she wasn't close to keeping up with Andrew, so she was standing and pushing the racer from behind when she got to the path through the park. She hit that hill running and those little legs were just flying as she raced down the hill. She had a hard time keeping the bike on the path and was going everywhere at top speed. I just laughed and laughed as I watched her. It was just such a great show.

We got to the playground and had a great time and then it suddenly was dark...and the sprinklers came on. So we headed home, back the way we came. This time Andrew wanted to ride the racer Natalie came on and she wanted to "push" the scooter. This means she was down almost at ground level, pushing on the place where your foot goes. Not very fast, and hard to keep the scooter going in a straight line. I tried to help her and she got very upset "Help you! I do it" So there we were in the now very dark park, literally inching along, and the sprinklers are on. Suddenly I realize that where I am stopped, waiting for Natalie to make any progress at all, is right in the path of the arching sprinkler. There is nowhere to go. I throw myself over the baby so he doesn't get wet and take it in the back. It was a good shower. Still laughing, I try to help Natalie again, but she still insists on doing it herself. Andrew has ridden the push and ride ahead, he's terrified of the big sprinklers. Meanwhile, a new set of sprinklers turns on, right where Natalie is. I race the stroller and James up on the path to where Andrew is, then hurry back to Natalie who is now crying because the sprinkler got her pretty good. Now she will let me help her. Yea!

I pick her and the scooter up and head back to the stroller and Andrew. Luckily the stroller I had has a huge basket area. I put Natalie in there for the ride home and carry the scooter. Andrew of course wanted in the basket too and we tried to fit him in, but he's just too big, so he got to ride home.

We finally made it home--I bet it took us almost 30 minutes just to walk the few streets home. In fact I talked to John on the phone just before we got doused by the sprinkler and he was leaving work. We didn't get home much before he did!!