A Day At The Park: Two Ways

My boys agree on most things when it comes to play at home, but the park is a whole different ballgame (which is why it's impossible to take them to the park when flying solo). 

I took my point-and-shoot camera along on a recent trip with Gamma Rita and the only two pictures I managed to get of the boys together were pre-park over an incredibly nutritious lunch:

– Turns out we is still lovin' it™, everyone!

And pretty much right before we left where they were miraculously smitten with the same aspect of the park at the same time. Lovely shot of the back of their heads, but you get the idea.

Welcome to a typical day at the park OP style! 

• • • • • • •

This is how the "Nate Way" typically unfolds – and by the way, this is not the same slide featured in the previous picture. This is the "Really Big Slide!" (just so you know): 

– "Really Big Slide" is what I imagine Heaven look like everyone!

I need to caveat this post right now by saying that although I spent an equal share of time with both of my boys at the park there are far less photos of Nate mainly due to the fact that we spent 90% of our time together in the exact same location.

And there's only so many photos you can take of a boy doing exactly this: 

– I could do 'dis all day. And usually I does!

Over and over and over again. What can I say? Nate really likes that slide!

Despite the park resembling an uninhabited wasteland* in all my photos for some reason, things were fairly hopping (busy park on a busy weekend) – and even though both of my boys are quite good at waiting their turn, I won't insult you by pretending they necessarily enjoy it. 

– I is waiting turn which I doesn't really mind that much, but I throws in 'dis
tragic look for effect anyway in case it endear someone to let me through
to front of line.

The other 5% of the time with Nate was spent dashing around trying out anything that could be climbed on: 

– Please note everything around me in focus. Is just me that is blur
for some reason.

Or anything worth riding: 

– Big or small, I rides them all!

And even though the general consensus has been that swings are stinkeroo since Seth lost interest (and anything your brother doesn't want to do is typically not worth doing of course), Gamma Rita managed to coax Nate back onto a swing:

After which it was game-on!** 

– OK. I admits it. Swing is fun.

• • • • • • •

The second half of our day at the park was spent doing things the "Seth Way" and it's probably best if I just let Seth narrate this: 

– Oh hi everyone. Is me, Seth. We is at park today and Nate doing it all wrong
so I shows you how it done right instead. There is a lot to see and do here and
I see and do all kinds of stuff, but everyone know first priority at park is to
impress the cuties. Right now I is gathering ingredients to make one of my
signature dishes. Everyone know the cuties dig a guy who know own way
around a kitchen.

– I has a few recipes I likes to make at park. Macaroni and cheese, grilled
cheese sandwiches and caesar salad are my go-to favorites. Today
we is making macaroni and cheese.

– I start by combining ingredients in handy bowl-type thing hidden under
play equipment. Is especially handy because 'dis secret recipe!

– So secret in fact that it important to take look around from time to time
to make sure no one peeking...

– ... before I add super-secret final touch. Turns out, rocks and twigs are what really
make 'dis recipe.

– And BAM! Is all done.

– I take moment to bask in own success but is fleeting. It take more than a
winning recipe and good looks to impress the cuties after all.

Mommy note: it doesn't take more than that smile and those baby blues to impress me. I could get lost in those eyes (and sometimes do). And yes, they really are that blue.

– Good thing I also has skills at vehicle maintenance. Oh sure, it obvious that
missing wheel is real problem, but taking time to look under hood anyway
make it seem like you really know what you is doing.

– Next I head over to "Really Big Slide" to see what all the fuss about.
I start to climb up to slide 'dis way but discover pretty quick there
no cuties over here so I cuts it short.

– I end up finding more cutie-friendly way to top of slide but when I arrive
it turn out I only find Nate and some big kids and exactly zero cuties.
"Really Big Slide" turn out to be stinkeroo!

– Thank goodness regular slide has plenty of cuties and even though you
not see any evidence of that here, me and my bucket was big hit!

You probably wondering about my bucket right now and why it such big hit
so I give you hint.

– Is not big hit because I using it to make more recipes.

– And it not big hit because I pose here and there to casually show off
a little leg (although 'dis big crowd pleaser also).

– Is big hit because it turn out caring about environment also popular
with the cuties!****

– To be perfectly honest though, I do 'dis part even if no cuties is looking.
Is just fun!

- L. 

*I have no idea how I managed to take pictures of my boys at an extremely popular park on a weekend afternoon and make it look like we were the sole inhabitants. It wasn't especially deliberate, but really... wow!

**I had Seth in hand when I took the swing pics of Nate. It was pretty close to leaving time and I had approximately 500 pics of Seth and a half dozen of Nate. Also, enjoying a swing is a rare beast ever since Seth declared swings stinkeroo*** and Nate took his word for it.

***In all fairness, Seth unexpectedly got sick on a swing last summer and hasn't been on one since.

****Actually, it's not. The part about the recipes/kitchen play, car maintenance and the "regular" slide all being popular with the cuties is quite true, but Seth is definitely on his own with park maintenance. Hunting for "little treasures" is an intrinsic part of going to the park with him however, and the highlight is definitely the trip to the respective bins where we sort things into "garbage" and "recycling".

• • • • • • • 

PS. In case you thought this was fresh material and wondered why the weather was so nice and everyone was looking so spry, these pics are actually from a couple or more weeks ago when the weather was still good and we were between summer colds.

My Ham-Fisted Hooligans (At Least They Show Well)

Six odd weeks or so ago, the boys and I had an opportunity for a brunch-time meet-up with our prenatal class alumni. It's the first time we'd seen (almost) everyone together in over a year and we had a great time (also, no camera malfunctions this time around!). It was amazing how much more time we – as parents – had to interact with each other at our recent get-together. Apparently a lot can happen in a year.

Of course, it helped that my guys had no issue whatsoever getting familiar with all the different books and toys. For example, Nate was just as comfortable reading upside down at someone else's house as he is at home:

Ditto for Seth, who got down to business "organizing" as many toys as he could find onto our hosts' coffee table: 

... before he commandeered his own private "boat" for story-time that is: 

Of course, there was at least one thing out of the ordinary and it's not the toddler-friendly table and chairs: 

Before I managed to fully articulate the phrase "oh, my boys don't know how to use a fork", Nate had said fork in hand and was using it like a pro. In hindsight, I think perhaps he was trying to impress the young lady. 

And yet, methinks the young lady was not especially impressed.

None of which mattered much at the time, of course, because Mommy was sure impressed! I couldn't wait to get home and dig our dusty forks out of hibernation for yet another stab at things (lousy pun intended).

Unfortunately, back again in our home environment with an absence of other people to consider, all bets were off. My attempt to reintroduce utensils resulted in tears and fork-flinging and then an epic bout of sadness until the forks finally disappeared. Suffice it to say, it didn't go well – at all. 

I put the forks away once more to gather dust and quietly feared my boys would still be eating their meals like ham-fisted hooligans come college. 

• • • • • • •

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I have no idea what possessed me to drag the forks out of hiding that particular day, but I suspect I was feeling unusually well rested and up for a challenge. And you know, it went over pretty well!

No flinging: 

No tears:

And even though Nate and Seth were blatantly goofing off at this point, definitely no sadness:

And so it is at last – ham-fisted hooligans though my boys may be – we sometimes use utensils now at the OP.

Sometimes.

- L.

PS. Since even the pics at the end are a few weeks old at this point, the black eye Seth is sporting is the same one featured here. 

Dining Out

Since we used up most of our free crayons from our previous venture out into the big world of family-friendly restaurants (which also happened to be our very first venture out into the big world of family-friendly restaurants), it was high time for a Part II adventure.

Unfortunately there isn't much available in our neighborhood that's family friendly that also isn't fast-food, so we revisited the same restaurant due to it's only-game-in-town proximity.

The restaurant? Swiss Chalet.

• • • • • • •

A small caveat: I worked at a Swiss Chalet while going to college. My shifts were for the most part not long enough to get a proper break with a meal, but the couple times they were I found their food landed like lead in my stomach. I've never been a big fan – including the times I've been dragged there by a rabid Swiss Chalet lover as a proper customer.

That said, there are far too many die-hard Swiss Chalet fans to make my dining experience anything other than a personal anecdote. Food preferences aside, I can also say that having worked in a few chain restaurants during my teens and early twenties, no one had it more together regarding food safety than the Chalet. Their standards are impeccable and their food for the most part is simply made and relatively healthy.

There is no accounting for their signature sauce however. I have no idea why people go bananas for it. A customer once commented that it tasted like mothballs and although it was still a few months before I tried it for the first time myself I'd have to agree that his description was fairly spot-on.

It was one of the few items at Swiss Chalet that wasn't made from actual ingredients in the restaurant, but rather came in powdered form in a mysterious bag, which should tell you something.

Seriously, stay away from that stuff.

And thus ends my caveat (which turned out to be not-so-small after all), and on with the dining out experiences...

• • • • • • • 

The first time I took my boys out was early February when Gamma Rita was still in town. We were fully prepared to exit if the experience was met with tears – and although there was a moment of doubt when it came time to get everyone seated in unfamiliar high-chairs, it turned out to be a better-than-expected venture.

Although I think the crayons were a selling point:

And the space where the tables met that was somehow perfectly positioned to shove said crayons down also had its appeal:

Of course there were other distractions which, at the time, we all assumed had to do with other patrons enjoying their lunch and a curious toddler:

It's hard to believe that was only 8 weeks ago when it was still technically winter here (we didn't really have winter this year, but it was February at the time) and also pre-haircuts. It seems like ages ago and I can't believe how much my boys have grown in such a short span of time.

But I digress.

Last night M. and I revisited Swiss Chalet after a play in the park for supper.

The boys weren't as taken with the crayons this time since we have plenty of crayons at home.

Oh. Crayons.

Still, we kept everyone distracted with a trip to the potty while we waited for our meals to arrive. Of course, once said meals arrived, Seth found a distraction of his own:

And unlike our previous visit where I assumed he was being a looky-loo in general, this time the source of his distraction turned out to be rather obvious:

Some might say a little too obvious. 

Hey cutie! Get back here – I not done with you yet!

*sigh*

• • • • • • •

Nate also had a similar reaction to the crayons:

Oh. Crayons.

At least until he discovered the ketchup that was well within his reach:

He admired that bottle as much as it is possible to admire a bottle of ketchup until the food arrived. 

And then he tucked in proper:

I'm fairly certain that his meal was at least 50% ketchup, but since it's technically a vegetable by some standards, we all did our best to look the other way.

- L.

PS. It's been tough on a first-time and last-time Mommy acknowledging that my babies are no longer babies.

Still, when I catch a moment like this it's impossible not to wax nostalgic: 

I'm not entirely sure that there won't always be moments like these that take me back in an instant to when they were barely born. A casual sweep of the eye and I'm right there all over again.

*sniffle*