Fun, Fun, and More Fun (oh and a nomination for Mother of the Year)

We have the funnest park about ten minutes from our apartment. The kids absolutely love it! It if fully equipped with six separate playground equipment sets all linked together with a series of handicapped accessible ramps. There are also rails everywhere so paranoid parents like myself aren't constantly freaking out that her son or daughter is going to fall to his or her death. The kids have a blast. There are slides galore, climbing accessories, toys along the way, tunnels to crawl through, etc. There is also a splashpad for when it gets warm, lots of swings, a lake and walking trail, and lots more. Definitely an adventure wonderland for these little ones!

Unfortunately it is so large that I can't take both kids by myself because they usually end up heading in opposite directions and I can easily lose them. So, I always have to take reinforcements with me which limits how often we can go, but it is certainly a blast when we are able to make it!

Now, on a side note - who thinks I should win Mother of the Year award for this one? One of the tallest slides is one of those tube slides that corkscrews around. Weston loves the tall slides and always heads for those ones first. I watched him go down one in particular and watched in amazement at the speed in which he was flung into one of the sides on the way down. Whoever designed the slide did not provide a very smooth decent. So, I watched as he came down and thought to myself "ouch." But, he didn't seem too bothered by it and went on his merry way.

So, several minutes later I am sending Natalie down slide after slide. She is having the time of her life. She loves slides and hasn't quite figured out the dos and don'ts yet. She will crawl right up to a slide and keep on going without thinking twice - smiling her whole way down. She has recently become even more brave and will walk right up to a slide and keep on walking - usually to her dismay finding that she soon is falling down the slide and usually ends up hitting her bum followed by her head pretty hard. She hasn't quite figured that one out yet. She looks startled every time she does it as if the slide played some mean trick on her or something.

Anyway, Roland sees the aforementioned slide and says "why don't you take her down that one?" I briefly have an image of Weston flying down the slide flash before my eyes, but dismiss it as a fluke and get her prepared for the ride. I place her on her tummy face forward as this is her preferred method of travel. I then send her on her merry way. No sooner had I let her go that I hear "bang, slam, bang, bang" followed by some very upset cries. Wow, I'm a terrible mom. Why did I not see that one coming? I must say that the following pictures are rather funny even though I am sure Natalie will think I am cruel as she looks back on this in future years. I think this definitely puts me in the running for Mother of the Year!

Can someone say deja vu?