A Fun Summer Day

A friend of mine told me recently about a really nice park in Lewisburg so on Tuesday I decided to take Anna.  I also have been wanting to go to the new Barnes and Noble so I figured that this would be a good oppurtunity to get there as well.  It was a great day and this park was awesome!!!!  They have a toddler area (although Annalise wandered everywhere) and just about every piece of playground equipment you can think of!  They also have a nice pool in the park and we will definatley be going back (with swimsuits, too). It was worth the 1/2 hour drive, although it took me about 45 minutes this time because I didn't really know exactly where the park was and had to find it.  I had somewhat of an idea where it might be so that helped.  After we played on the playground, we went to Barnes and Noble and got some books and then lastly stopped for pizza and ice cream on the way home.  I had such a great day with my sweet little girl!

This picture does not do justice to the size and amount of playground equipment at this park.

Anna kept going up and down these stairs.  I think she was thrilled because we always have the stairs gated at home so it was something out of the ordinary for her to be able to do!

Spinning the beads

This girl loves these tunnels!

Riding in a Firetruck

Checking out the back

Here comes firewoman, Annalise!

Making the bells sound in the back of the truck

This little girl was named Violet and she was soooooo stinkin' cute!  She came right up to Anna and started talking to her (and me) about anything and everything.  Violet was very helpful with showing Anna the playground equipment and how the stuff worked in the toddler section.  Annalise seemed to enjoy the attention from her and held hands with her and walked around for quite awhile.  Eventually I figured out which person was Violet's mother and told her how sweet and friendly her daughter was.  Her mom agreed and said that at the age of 4, Violet seemed to have the mothering thing down pat!

Still learning the ropes from Violet

Anna really liked these Teeter Totters.  Violet was on the other end and was very gentle and slow.  At one point I called Anna, Annalise while she was riding.  Violet looked at me and said "You just called her Annalise (I had told Violet that her name was Anna)".  I told her that was her name and we just call her Anna as a nickname and she looked at me and with a little bit of sass said, "Well, YOU can call her Annalise, I'M going to call her Anna".  Too cute!!!

Getting help on the slide

Once Anna discovered the ducks she ran over to them.  Suprisingly she did not chase them though at all.  She was just really inquisitive about them and stood/sat pretty still going "Cak (Anna's version of quack), Cak, Duckies!".

There were lots of ducks!

This duck kept walking up to us looking for food --- too bad for him we didn't have any!

Baby ducks in the water.

Anna kept saying she wanted to go  "swimmin' wif da duckies in da pool".

I had to convince her it wasn't a pool.  She is pretty easily convinced though if you tell her something is yucky she generally won't push the issue.  Guess she doesn't like yucky things =).

This girl was interesting.  At first she was talking to Anna a little bit.  Then, she asked me if I would catch her a duck so she could pet it.  When I said I wouldn't that we should leave the ducks do their own thing, she jumped up and started running and screaming "Kill, Kill!" at the top of her lungs.  It was actually kinda freaky.

Playing the drums in the music area.

More drum playing

Making more music

Like I said, I highly recommend this park.  You could easily spend a couple of hours there and let your toddler burn off a lot of steam!

A Wonderful Afternoon -- Minus the Shots

Yesterday Annalise had her 18 month check up (actually she is 19 months).  She was great.  It was the first time I actually let her walk around the little room when we were waiting for the doctor to come in and she didn't touch anything that I asked her not to.  When it was time for the shots she didn't even cry at all!  She whimpered a little, her lip quivered and her face turned a little red at first but she was completely fine when I scooped her up and praised her.  I think the shots bothered me more than her.  She is still really tall and the doctor said at this point it is likely safe to assume that she is going to be quite tall.  She was 35.5 inches, again the 99th %ile and 26 lbs 7 ounces which was the 70 something %ile (I was distracted at that moment).  After the trip to the doctor we had a little picnic lunch at Columbia Park and then played on the playground for a while.  She played for more than an hour and was really great when I told her it was time to go.  She even followed another little girl around and held hands with her for a little bit.  I love watching her begin to interact with other kids.  At one point a little boy ran up to her and his parents started yelling, "Be Nice! Be Nice!".  I was a little concerned as to what exactly they were fearful that he might do to her.  His parents eventually nervously came over and got him and he had a FIT!  I can't imagine the feeling of being worried about what your kid might do to another kid.  I mean don't get me wrong, Anna has moments when she gets upset about not getting or doing something (which are now pretty short lived which I REALLY hope stay that way), but she never initiates poor behavior with another child.  Anyway, with the beautiful weather it made for a wonderful afternoon with my #1 girl!

Enjoying her lunch.  The table was a little high for her but she managed.

Watching the other kids on the playground

Cheese! I LOVE this picture!

Popping in a blueberry.  I can't keep up with the fruit this girl eats.  We currently spend a ridiculous amount each week on produce.

Mouth full of fruit.

A little annoyed with the camara and saying a very forced "cheese".

Climbing up the stairs

Very seriously venturing on the wobbly bridge.

A little smile as it wobbles.

"Hey, this bridge is fun!"

Going down the littlest slide herself.

She loved this tube.  I am sure I looked ridiculous crawling back and forth through it with her but there are only big kid things on the other side.

Still in the tube.

She thought it was funny when she would get to the end and turn around and I was right behind her!

Kid's Day

Last Saturday there was a fund raiser at the Town Park to raise money to build a toddler playground.  It was advertised as having activities for children ages five and younger so I took Anna down for a few hours.  For a donation of five dollars the kids could participate in all they had set up there or you could buy tickets for 25 cents a piece and each station was worth a ticket.  At 18 months many of the crafts and things were still a bit to old for her to do but she LOVED three of the stations that they had.  The faceless kid in the pink hat is Anna in all the pictures.  She was much too enthralled to look for the camara!

This was one of the stations that she really liked.  They had a roped off area with a bunch of Hippity Hop Balls.  I couldn't get a picture of her on one because I had to help her do it and I had her by myself.  She really enjoyed them though!  This little girl in the picture was really cute too.  She kept coming over and handing Anna the balls.

This seemed to be her most favorite station.  They had baby swimming pool and a water table filled with feed corn.  Anna loved scooping it into buckets and dumping them out.  I really think she played here for a good 1/2 hour and would have stayed longer if I didn't coax her away.

She tried to dive in!

They also had pony rides but Annalise was content on just watching the other kids ride.  She kept going over and looking and I kept asking her if she wanted to ride.  Each time she gave a drawn out  "Nooooooooooo".

At another station they had a baby pool filled with damp sand.  It was perfect because you didn't have to worry about the sand blowing in anyone's eyes!

We had a great time and Anna was exhausted from playing and the heat when we left. 

Columbia Park

After a short rest at home, Annalise and I headed to Columbia Park to play.  Like I said, it was wayyyyy too nice outside to say indoors.  Columbia Park is a lot smaller and quieter than the Town Park which is much better for Anna (and me).  She really had a good time exploring and was covered in sweat and dirt by the time we left, both signs of a great time for a 17 month old.

When we got out of the car she spied the jungle gym and  a few kids.

She then promptly took off to join in....

...and didn't look back.

I caught up and took her down the big slide.  There is a picture of our feet going down the same slide last year. 

On the smaller slide by herself.  It was hard to get many good shots by myself.

Climbing up the jungle gym stairs. 

Still climbing with nice sweaty hair.

This was so funny.  Anna did not know what to think of this thing.  She just kept walking a perimeter around it saying "No, No!".  I remember last summer she drooled all over it!

Still checking it out.

She then found a parking block to sit on and sat awhile pulling out dandelions.

Annalise later found this swings. I can't get over how much bigger she looks in them this year!

This picnic table was also a hit.  She liked beating on the top of it and picking up every little stick, leaf and piece of whatever off of the top of it.