Summer Activity

The Saturday after the last day of school I found myself in the house with the three boys and no activities planned. Oh, there is plenty on MY To-Do list, but the boys had nothing but this wide stretch of open time. And there's nothing wrong with that, really. Except that, without being handed an activity or an outing the boys get wild, start climbing the walls, scream at the TV until it turns on, and I end up spending the day yelling and screaming and nothing gets done. Ever.

So, as the day was sunny and the forecast was for HOT, I smeared the boys with sunscreen, piled them in the car and took them to a playground.
Remember how playgrounds were when you were a kid? They were just plain dangerous. I mean, there were swings, right? Maybe planted in concrete. There was probably a merry-go-round, one of those disc things that kids cling to while another kid runs around and spins it so fast that everyone gets thrown off. Maybe a see-saw, which one kid would get off and the other would go crashing down to earth. And probably a jungle gym, made of metal bars. And at some point a girl would forget and swing upside down on one bar, and bang her head on the bar below, and now she doesn't understand simple things like imaginary numbers or past participles or the stock market. (just sayin')
None of those things can be found at the newer playgrounds. Swings, yes, but on woodchips or that soft, foamy material. And as for play structures... well, I've been to a lot of parks where they LOOK fun, but once you get past the bright colors and irregular shapes, it's really just a staircase and a slide.
Or you get places that look like this:

Wait, you have to see how BIG it really is. Here's a picture of Nick on it:

Yes, that structure is three stories high, and there are two Very Big Slides that start there. Even Andy went down both of them. Not only are there ladders to get up there, but stairs and a climbing wall lead to the second story and two smaller slides. And each level has small seats and wheels and levers and whatever for kids to mess with. There's also a smaller structure with rings and monkey bars. And swings so high that I can sit on them and my feet don't brush the ground.

The best thing about this park is that there's a sprinkler park there. Big, bright colored spinny things squirt water. It bursts from the ground and from the sky and kids run around and splash and scream. It's great!
Last year we only made it a couple of times. And each time I go I wonder why we don't go more. This is a free activity. We should do this more!