A Day At The Park

Oh my gosh! Was it gorgeous today, or what?? As soon as I woke up and saw the blue, clear sky I was instantly in a happy mood. And the fact that the kids were still asleep and I woke up on my own was gratifying also. Gotta love it when that happens. And as I laid in bed looking out the window, I thought "we can't let this beautiful day go to waste." So once the kids got up, we all got dressed and decided to go to the park. I had done a little research and found a park that we had never been to. It is called Collins Park (off of Cypresswood). It is kind of hidden so isn't too too busy. So we were off. But first I stopped and got us some donuts and kolaches to also enjoy at the park. :) We couldn't go without breakfast, could we??

As soon as we pulled up, Zach automatically gets in a mood (and I don't mean a good one). He says he isn't going to play, that he's just going to watch, he doesn't want to play with anybody else, etc. Well, he has been Mr. Anti-Social lately. Anytime there are other kids around, he won't play or socialize with them!! Kind of frustrating when you are doing something nice for them and they don't even want to participate. As soon as he says this, I feel myself getting frustrated, but then I told myself not to worry about it- at least Sophie will have some fun!

This park has two playgrounds which, I loved. One for toddlers (1-5) and another one for the older kids. This is great!!
Sophie didn't waste any time. She went straight for the equipment and started sliding down. She loved it! And Zach didn't lie...he just stood there and watched. So I started to redirect his attention. There was a hill and I asked him what was on the other side of it. So we went exploring. He and Sophie ran up and down this hill about three or four times. Then they found some leaves and even posed for some pictures for me! Zach's attitude did a total 180!
Once we got back to the playground, he was ready to play. And he even made a friend with Iron Man! This was another little boy (probably around 5) that he started to play with. They were playing like they were on a ship and Zach was the captain (go figure). So everytime that Zach called the other boy "Captain," he would reply, "I'm not Captain! My name is Iron Man!!" It was quite entertaining. :)

We were about to leave, but Sophie decided that she wanted to check out the "big" playground instead. And to my surprise, they both went down a big slide!! It was so much fun!
We didn't stay at that one for very long, it was getting later so it was getting kind of busy and crazy with all of the older kids.

I was quite proud of myself (we all know that I'm not a real "outdoorsy" person), we stayed at the park for almost two hours!!!! The kids loved it! And of course, we all want to go back soon. It was a very pretty day to spend with my kiddos!! I can't wait for more days like this!