The Schmitt Family: A Day at the Park

One of the many great things about our new city is all the wonderful city parks/playgrounds. We have a great one just at the end of our street, but also enjoying exploring new playgrounds. We found another one a few streets over back in March and had a great time playing.

It is not easy going to the playground these days. Abbie is able to play on her own for the most part, which is wonderful. Occasionally, I have to help her climb something new or push her in the swings, but other than that she plays well on her own. Carter, on the other hand, is a absolute disaster! Some days he has no interest in the playground and just wants to run up and down hills, pick up and eat sticks, or play in the dirt and eat the rocks. (Seriously, what is going on in his head that he thinks it is a good idea to eat rocks!) He also tries to run around the playground. He is an excellent walker now, but is still not quite able to run or do hills without falling. So basically I have to chase after him to make sure he doesn’t fall face first into the sidewalk. Other days he loves the playground and is easily able to climb up. Unfortunately, he has no grasp of the holes in the railing where kids can climb up or how to be careful not to fall off. It is so stressful! He needs constant supervision but wants to play all by himself and gets mad when I try to keep him safe. It is exhausting. In the meantime, Abbie is wanting me to push her on the swings and Carter does not like being confined in the swing. Please tell me it will get easier some day!

Here are some pictures from our trip to this playground back in March.

Abbie was not too sure about this gorilla statue. I kept telling her it was just pretend. Carter walked right up, thought it was boring, and took off in the other direction.