Some days are just harder than others

So this is what happened. My dear friend Lindsay and her twin boys (that are 3 months older than Maya) get together at least once a week. Last night she called me to find out what day this week we should get together and what should we do. I suggested that we try this new park that I had heard great things about, but had never been. Lindsay had been there before, but agreed to go. It is really known for their "splash pad." The weather has been very warm here, so anything in the shade or involved water would be a bonus!

Maya and I left our house at 9:20am to meet up with them at her house. We decided that we would caravan over to this park. We drove 35 minutes to get there. When we arrived, we realized that the "splash pad" was not on. We saw two men working in the area, so I decided to walk over and find out what the situation was. I was told by the men that the pump was broken and they were doing "routine" cleaning. It was now 10:20 and they told me that it should be up and running around 11. "Great," I was thinking, we drove all this way and it is not working!! I walked back over to our cars and told Lindsay the situation. She was just as disappointed as I was. After a little convincing from me, we walked across the parking lot to a play structure. After lathering the kids up in sunscreen we let the kids free. They were playing on the play structure and having a great time when Lindsay noticed two school buses pulling into the parking lot. Lindsay looked at me and said, "this isn't a good situation." I looked at her after looking at the buses and told her, "it will be fine." Well it wasn't. It was crazy. About a minute later a ton of older kids (probably 5th or 6th graders) were let loose. Our little ones were bombarded and trapped on the play structure. It was a real scene trying to get our three little ones off the structure. After getting the kids together, Lindsay and I looked at each other and just shook our heads. "What else could go wrong today?" I said to Lindsay, "what should we do?" She looked at me and said, "we need to get away from here, let's go up to the open field at the top of the hill." So, off we went. The kids were disappointed along with us. We were frustrated, hot and in disbelief. We tried to occupy them with ring a round the rosie, but that didn't last long. We eventually convinced them to run around the baseball diamond, but that only lasted a short time before they got bored and worn out. By this time it was 11 and we wanted to get them home for naps. When we got back to our cars, the kiddos were dirty from head to toes and sweaty. We quickly changed them, wiped them down and gave them snacks and drinks. Home we went.

After Maya got up from her nap, I called Lindsay to discuss our crazy day. I told Lindsay, I was off to go to a nearby park. She decided that she would meet Maya and I. I should have known something was up when she 45 minutes late. (She told me that Henry (one of her boys) had a tantrum outside of their house right before leaving) It now started to lightly rain and by the time I was thinking of packing up Maya, it stopped. Thank goodness it only lasted a few brief minutes. The kids had a great time playing. About an hour later, it was time to leave when Elliot (her other boy) threw a tantrum next to the tire swing. Poor Lindsay tried EVERYTHING and nothing seemed to calm him down. Again, we just looked at each other and smiled. We loaded the kids in the car and decided to call it a day. To top things off even more, Maya then threw a fit in the car, because she wanted more cheerios that I didn't have!

Here were some of the photos that captured the day.....

Maya, Elliot and Henry on the suspension bridge of the play structure at the first park.

Maya and Elliot on the slide together. These are pictures before the buses pulled up.

Henry, Elliot and Maya running on the baseball field. For some reason they liked to run the bases backwards.

Maya finally caught Elliot at home base.

Maya sliding into 2nd base, even though she was a few yards away from it....not bad for a beginner!

After she landed. She said, "Maya fell down, help mommy ."

Henry brushing the dirt off of his hands.

Maya trying to find Elliot's belly button.

Maya and Henry holding hands on the way back to the cars. Henry seemed a little disappointed in leaving.

At the park near our house (after nap time). Maya loves to ride on these things. She calls it a round and round. Daddy taught her how to stand and hold on.

Maya climbed this ladder all by herself. She did great until she got to the top and then said, "mommy help Maya."

Such a cutie! She said she wanted to sit on the "balance beam."

Elliot climbed to the top of the play structure to go down the "crazy slide." Check out his cute little muscle tee shirt.

Henry and Maya jumping on the suspension bridge.

Maya loved putting the bark chips in the holes of the stairs. When I asked her what she was doing she said, "putting wood in holes." I guess if she was happy, then I was happy too!

Elliot going down the slide.

All three riding the "round and round."

"More round and round" they said.

Henry and Maya leaving the park...

You can't say that we didn't try to make it a great day. Our intentions were so good. Sometimes things just don't go the way we want them to. Hopefully our next play date with Lindsay and the boys will be less eventful!