April-October- Playing Outside

Daniel and Anabella love, love, LOVE playing outside. It's so cute to see their excitement when we ask them if they want to go outside. "Shoes, shoes," they say, as they run to the closet to get their shoes. Sometimes if I'm not quick enough, Daniel will go to the door, and has been known to open it (the one that goes to the garage). They love playing at the park, and we have two in our neighborhood and a few others within a short driving distance. But they're not choosy, they are just as happy to play outside the house. In fact, they enjoy this even more so lately, as stroller rides are not nearly as fun as they used to be before they were so good at walking. Now when we put them in the stroller, we have to fight the squirms and "walk, walk" that they very clearly verbalize. So, sometimes it's just easier to hang out in the cul-de-sac. They love their cozy coupes and have just started pushing one another in them. Our neighbors across the street have two boys, one just turned 2 and the other just turned 4, so if we are out in the evening or weekends, they often come join us.

In the spring, we used to play on our deck.

See how nicely we played?

Here we are out in front of the house in October.We started coming out front
this summer, once the babies were more steady on their feet (not that
they didn't look pretty steady fighting over that slide on the deck in April).

Outside Play in October

At the park Anabella and Daniel love to run, run, run!! At the beginning of the summer their favorite thing to do was swing. I think it's because they weren't crazy about walking around in the mulch. Not anymore. Now they like the slide most of all. Only they don't always want to slide down, they often want to walk up as well.  They also like to climb. Only they're not always content to just climb the stairs, sometimes they want to climb the monkey bars or climb things that are not suitable for toddlers who are not quite 2 but think they are going on 20.  Daniel and Anabella like it when there are other children at the playground, and I'm always so impressed at how sweet the older children are with them. Watching them grow so much from the spring to summer to fall at the park has been amazing.  Can't wait to see what they can do next year!

The first time we took the twins to the park they didn't know what to do or think. It was Early April, so they had just learned to walk.  They were uncertain of the mulch and actually fussed a little as if to say, "Ugh, take me back home!"It didn't take long, though, before they were wobbling around happy as could be.

Daddy showed them how to go down the slide.

Just a few weeks later, they were all about the park!

They started out (April) climbing on their hand/knees. By mid-

summer, they were walking up holding onto the railing.

They loved (and still do) climbing through the tunnel and looking though to say hello.

They would get mad when the other would try to climb into the tunnel when one was

already in there. And, guess what? They still do.

Wow, thought Daniel, I bet I'll be climbing this by the end of the summer!

Doubtful, thought Mommy, maybe next year.

Daniel was right. (no pictures for obvious reasons) He (and Anabella)

also know how to climb the rock wall to the right (always with Mommy or Daddy standing

directly behind for support)

Do we have a fun Daddy, or what?

In June, we started using the handrails.

Here's the rock wall I mentioned. He climbs this

to the top now.

These two photos were taken in September, along with the ones in the slideshow below.

At the Park