Party at the Park

I must confess...we really didn't have a party at the park, but we did (and always do) have a great time. We love parks! There are so many here where we live. Of course, we love our favorites, but we are also on a mission to try a new park about once a week. The girls are at great ages for both to have a wonderful time. All we need is a bucket seat swing for Brooklyn and a good playground; slides, swings, the "merry go round" and a climbing structure for Maya. We LOVE to play and it shows!

This was a new playground for us...

Maya loves to go on these "rocking things." The faster she can make them go the better time she has. This was a motorcycle.

Big sister Maya taking her sister down the slide. The two of them were laughing when they got down to the bottom.

Brooklyn loves the bucket swing! The higher you push her, the harder she laughs.

You wouldn't know it by her face, but she was giggling SO much.

When Maya sees one of the BIG swings, she always pretends that it is a ride at Disneyland. She likes for you to double check that the belt is fastened and pretends to give you a "ticket."

Holding on.

Here's our happy girl...giggling up a storm!

"Whee!"

"Watch me, I'm a big girl." (That seems to be her favorite line these days.)

The next three pictures are of Maya climbing down a rock wall. She had never done this kind before. She had no idea that I was taking these pictures of her.

When she got off and looked over at me, she said, "did you see me?" When I told her that not only did I see her, but I took pictures of her, she said, "can I see them?" After she saw them, she said, "I did it. I am a big girl!"

Brooklyn was cheering her on the whole time!! She is always Maya's biggest supporter.

Maya had never been on one of these spiral things either. Nanny Sara was quick to show Maya how to do it. After a few turns on it, maya said, "I can do it by myself Sara, let go of me."

She was right, she could do it. She just needed someone to show her how to do it.

Maya made it all the way. Good job M!

This is why you should ALWAYS buckle a child into the stroller...

When we weren't looking, Brooklyn decided to pull herself up. (Mind you, she has never attempted this before!)

This is what we saw next....
and this is when Sara and I went running. (Mind you, we were only about 10 feet away.) We are lucky that she didn't end up falling out. Now a days....she is ALWAYS buckled in! B may be little, but she is VERY quick and mobile.

Maya practicing the spiral thing,

again,
and again,
and again.

Nanny Sara decided to take both girls down the slide.

At least we know that Sara had a good time!

Brooklyn had a great time "banging" the sides of the slide.

Mommy's turn! Ready...Set...Go...

That last corner caught mommy off guard.

Brooklyn sitting in the bark chips while Maya was drawing with side walk chalk.

"Look at me, mommy!"

One of our favorites!

"OK, enough Sara!"

This is more mommy's speed...very S-L-O-W-L-Y!

While the 3 of us were playing on the merry go round, B decided to take a nap.

I love to "stand back" and watch Maya interact with Nanny Sara. The two of them have a very special bond together. Moments like these make me smile.

CHOP CHOP

That's right...time for haircuts. This was a first for Baby Brooklyn; all things considered she did pretty well. Maya went to get her bangs trimmed and the split ends taken care of.

Brooklyn's turn...

Brooklyn had no idea what she was getting into.

The picture doesn't lie; Brooklyn was not a happy camper!

After giving her a few minutes, Brooklyn was 100% better.

Maya's turn...

Maya's before picture.

Ta Da! She was VERY happy that her bangs were shorter.

Thanks Anna for giving the girls great haircuts. It is so nice not hearing Maya say, "MY HAIR IS IN MY EYES!"

A New Adventure

Last week, nanny Sara and I decided we would take the girls to Oaks Park for one of their Preschool Days. We have never been, and I keep hearing what great fun it is. I must admit that I was very concerned when we followed a ton of cars into the parking lot and the line to buy tickets was extremely long. Before we unloaded everything and the girls, Sara and I just looked at each other and said, "what the heck? Let's give it a try!" So I paid the admission and in we went....

Nanny Sara and Maya went down "big pink" slide together. Never did I think that Maya would love this ride so much that she actually ended up going three times!! The last time she went down it all by herself!

I should have known better! As we got buckled in and settled, the little girl behind us, said, "have you ever been on this roller coaster before?" I turned around and said, "no, have you?" She giggled and said, "yeah, and it is really fast and scary." Oh wonderful I thought. I was really thinking how bad can it be? They have it listed as a kiddie ride for goodness sake!

And off we went....

Oh my! Maya looked at me after going around once and said, "I don't like this ride, the little girl was right. It is fast and scary." Needless to say, the operator let us go twice. I know Maya wasn't too happy and I wasn't either! I quickly told Maya that sometimes when I am scared that I laugh out loud and that it seems to help my fears. I told her that we were going to try that.

Let's just say, that Maya and I were the only ones laughing the entire time. When we got off, Maya looked at me and said, "I don't like that roller coaster." I looked at her and whispered, "me either, but thanks for trying it anyways."

Brooklyn had her own good time in the stroller. She loved watching all the kids run around.

If by chance no one was paying attention (which never happens) she would bang on the stroller.

This is the face she would give you, once she noticed you. Gotta love that face!

Nanny Sara and Maya riding in a hot air balloon.

Maya practiced "shooting" her gun at me before the ride started.

After Maya would "shoot" the boy in the next rocket over, the boy would yell, "got me." Maya thought the boy was REALLY funny.

Maya got to drive a motorcycle.

Brooklyn had a lot to say.... The longer she babbled, the louder it got!

Making B laugh and smile was pretty easy that day; she was having a good old time.

When Maya saw that they had Frog Hopper, she was pretty excited. She went on this in Toronto and so she knew what to expect.

Waving to me as she went by in the car.

Maya and nanny Sara jumped on the train for a ride around the park.

Last but not least; the carrousel. Maya picked the frog out all by herself. When I asked her the name of the frog, she said, "I don't know? Jumpy because he jumps. That's silly mommy."

The last ride before story time followed by cookies and milk.

Let me just say that we had a fabulous day and we will definitely be going back.

Splashing and Swimming at Jamison

The other day, nanny Sara and I decided to take the girls down to Jamison Park. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Our plan was to play in the water and then have daddy meet us for a picnic lunch.

Here are some cute pictures from our morning...

Maya's face tells it all; she was SO excited to get in the water.

Within just a few minutes of being there, Maya shouts to me, "Mommy take my toys, I want to swim."

"Look at me!!"

Maya loved copying what the older kids were doing.

"See the girl over there, she is swimming like a dolphin!"

"I'm doing push ups in the water."

Maya loved climbing up and down the stone wall.

One of our favorite pictures.

Maya was trying to roll over in the water.

It took a little while for Baby B to warm up to the situation.

She had a lot of fun banging the shovel on the concrete.

Tried SO hard to get a smile out of her.

Doing a little exploring.

Feeling and splashing the water.

Another favorite of ours.

That's our Brooklyn....laughing, smiling and babbling!

Maya having a fabulous time!

Eating lunch with daddy.

Our plan worked out perfectly! We had a great time and can't wait until we go again.

We have been very busy; more fun posts coming VERY soon.