Early Summer 2017: Part II - Playtime

June started off a bit cold, so the kids are still wearing jackets and long pants in our first park pictures. Ty and Allison found the loose pole at McCollum Park and had fun pushing it back and forth to each other (until, of course, Tyler got too intense for her).

 He figured out how to swing it less violently on another trip.

It's a bit far away, but we also really like Miner's Corner Park. They have a neat new swing that lets one person pump with a little one sitting across from them. I swung a bit with Allison before Tyler wanted to do it with her. He's not a big fan of swings, and still didn't really like this one, but he liked the novelty of swinging with his sister.

Sweet kids racing down the slides and spinning around. Ty switched out spinning and pushing, but Allison just kept spinning and spinning. It surprised me that she never seemed to get dizzy or upset. Eventually I took her off (to her great disatisfaction) because I worried she'd get sick from spinning much longer.

Edgewater Beach only opened to the public about a year ago, so barely anyone knows about it. I only know about it because I took a paddleboard yoga class there once with Amy. We spent nearly two hours there on a 77 degree day, and the only other people we saw were a jogger and two elderly folks walking along the shore. It's sandy and shallow, and the kids loved hearing and watching Boeing planes and Amtrack/freight trains go by. The planes take off right over your head and the train tracks are nearby but not so close that you're worried about the kids' safety. We plan on visiting a lot this summer.

Tyler likes using his little sand knife to cut patterns into the sand.

On one visit Allison couldn't get enough of the dogs people were walking. One lady filled an empty doggie bag with water for her dogs, and Allison got on her knees to drink it with them...

This day was perfect for the kids. There was tons of wet sand without any quick sand issues. This happens a few hours before or after low tide. Low tide has too much quick sand for my comfort, and it's too rocky to walk barefoot at high tide.

 Ty was in sensory heaven rubbing that wet sand all over himself.

These pictures are from another day when we arrived right at the point of lowest tide. You sink more the more you weigh, so I can't keep up with the kids if they go running out to the water, which terrifies me.

Allison, of course, wants to be where the action is around all the other kids. She loved splashing and walking in all the puddles and squishy sand.

We made an unplanned visit to 92nd ST park one day when Tyler fell asleep in the car on our way to the YMCA. It seemed like a great idea since I could let Allison play on the playground while I kept an eye on him in the car, but then it was awful since she refused to stay away from the dirty pond. She's such a water baby. 

Allison and I often visit the library playground on the right while Ty's at his therapy appointments in the Mill Creek Town Center.

It was a bit cold one day at North Creek park, but I only had Allison's jackets in the car. Ty still wanted one, so I put it on him. "Big boy in a little coat!" 

The water at the Splash parks turns on in June. Here we are at Daleway Park.

One day we tried to go to Edgewater beach, but you have to cross the train tracks to get there, and there was a train at a dead stop for over 5 minutes. Since I had no idea when it would move, we drove over to Howarth Park Beach and Playground. First we hit up the playground part.

It's not much of a climbing structure, but it'll do.

There are some baby swings higher up the hill where Ty enjoyed pushing Allison. The entire park is on a steep hill leading down to the beach. You cross a bridge above the train tracks to get there.

It's a gorgeous beach, but we were there at low tide and the sand was way too sinky for comfort. The kids lost a couple shovels since they floated away in the streams and I was unwilling to go through sand sinking up to my thighs just to save $1 on shovels. We should come back sometime when the tide's not quite so low.

 

And of course, we make regular visits to the good old YMCA playground. Miss Allison really wants to climb the ladder up to the top story, but she can't go up more than one step.

She's such a cute little climber, especially in her little summer dresses. 

She has the best smile! It just delights me. She also terrifies me by pretending to step off the playground dropoffs. These are the spots where big kids climb up on rocks or step out onto the climbing ropes. Not for you baby! She often wants to jump into my arms from there. I just hope she never jumps when I'm not prepared for her.

I refuse to put away this cute 12 month dress of Allison's, even though it's far too short to wear as a dress anymore. It's a shirt now, but I think it works.

Starting her modeling career on the playground :)

Cuteness at Imagine Children's Museum! I loved watching them cuddle in the bus driver's seat.

I took the kids to Willis Tucker park and splashpad, but I forgot to bring disposable cups. They lose interest when they can't collect the water, and that particular splashpad has too much vertical water for their liking.

Tyler tends to go off on his own while Allison wants to join the crowd and be a part of the action.

And my sweet little girl at Martha Lake playground. Back before we had kids, Oscar and I used to come here all the time to play croquet. They have two playgrounds there, but it's pretty much impossible to keep my water baby away from the lake.