We had a pretty big adventure on Sunday. We walked about 6-7 blocks to our closest playground and Finn had her first time playing on the playground! Said playground has a big-kid playground, but it also has a 2-5 year old playground that in enclosed by a fence. Holy funness, Batman (and the kid can't even walk yet)!
As the photos show, we played on the swings, slide and the spring animals. To an outsider, it was nothing too exciting. But for me, it was the best time that I've had in weeks.
We headed for the swings first. I knew this was safe. We have a Fisher-Price swing set up in our yard, so I knew that she wouldn't mind the swing. But this was our first big-baby swing -- you know the kind that is made of heavy-duty rubber that doesn't have straps to buckle you into the bucket that could be forward or backwards. We plopped her in there and she really enjoyed herself.
The one thing that I'm learning about the little lady is that she is pretty reserved with Mama in mixed company (even Daddy falls into this). Let me explain (and this has happened on multiple occasions): she is a ball of giggles with someone trying to make her laugh when Mama isn't around, but the minute that Mama rounds the corner. It's over. No more giggles. Even if that someone is doing the exact same thing that not even 10 seconds ago left Finn is a fit of giggles, she will look at me as if to say "I don't know what they are doing, but they sure are weird... Honestly, Ma, I wasn't laughing. I don't know what they are doing to me." She doesn't cry -- she just gives me this these-people-are-crazy look. And Daddy isn't immune to the he's-weird face. And she is the same way with me as well. She will be a fit of giggles with me by myself. But the minute that someone else enters the room, the face comes out.
So the extremely long story is that giggles are hard to come by in groups -- we didn't get any giggles. But we did get a lot of smiles.
We also sent her down the baby slide by herself (with our hand ever present behind her back, just in case she fell backwards). No giggles, but lots of smiles and kicking her legs when she was sitting at the top of the slide waiting to go down. At the beginning, Eain and I took turns going down the slide with her. Right away Eain volunteered to go down with her and I told him that we have to take turns having the fun! Both of us ended up taking her down the slide. But the slide was so teeny that we felt comfortable with one of us sitting at the top of the slide and the other catching. She liked the slide.
I also realized something as we were about 100 yards away from the playground. I can't wait to spend my life with her. I mean, of course, I already knew that -- but I started thinking about how as she gets older, I get to do all of the little kid things that old people don't normally get to do AND I get to do them with someone who is just as excited as me about them! An example is our local park system has a park called Farmpark. The park is exactly what you think that it would be. There are all sorts of farm animals there. They show you how to milk cows, how to make butter, how to make maple syrup in the fall. They even have sheep herding demonstrations. They have lots of different breeds of various farm animals. Basically they have anything and everything that has to do with a farm and they show you how it's done. Now listen, I've been wanting to go to the Farmpark since the moment I knew of it's existence some three years. But I could never drag Eain into wanting to go with me. Of course, if I asked, he would go, but he wouldn't be excited about it.
But really, the list goes on and on... I have someone to go to the amusement parks with me (if she likes roller coasters) when she is over 48 inches. I have someone to go to haunted houses with me and hopefully she will be the more sensible of the two of us, otherwise, we are going to be scared shitless. I have someone to go to the kiddie museums with, as I've wanted to go to our Children's Science Center since we got here, but Eain wasn't up to it. I have someone to go to the aquarium with -- Cleveland just got an aquarium this year (it's a little pricey, which is why we haven't went yet -- now I have an excuse).
In thinking of all the places that I get to go now, I also started thinking of all the fun things that I get to do without looking like a whack-job. I am totally going to have a partner-in-crime! At least I'm hoping that she is going to dig all the silly kind of things that I dig. In fact, I was so happy that on the way home from the park, I actually skipped part of the way. (And kind of made fun of the way that my dad skipped. Sorry, Grampy! But my brother can totally vouch for the fact that when my Dad skips, he totally goes for distance & height.)
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