Day Nine: Playground

We had big plans for today, but since Papa wasn't feeling too well the toddler and I put them off and decided to keep those plans for a day when he was well enough to join us. So we went to a park we like. During the week it is a favourite haunt of childminders and local nurseries; weekends it is almost deserted. So aside from one suspiciously well-dressed girl and her smartly-dressed grandmother (more on those two later) we had the playground to ourselves.

We started out with a lot of running around. Normally there are so many kids that it's hard for her to gain any sort of proper speed. Not today, though.

The springing bouncing ride thing is her absolute favourite. She likes this more than just about anything that can normally be found in a playground and sometimes has to be winkled off it one clinging finger at a time.

The little houses don't do much for her, especially this one. We did find some wasps in there, and Mama was very brave and didn't do anything to let her know that they are monstrous creatures and should be exterminated on sight. Not even a small flap of the hand.

Then she found the slide. Normally I lift her halfway up the slide and she slides down from there, but her newfound stair proficiency meant that she was not having any of my help. So up she went while I clutched my imaginary pearls and hovered around her.

Steps safely navigated, she sat at the top and obligingly waited for me to move around to the front. This is about a five-foot slide, maybe a bit more.

And ... success. I wish I'd been able to catch the look on her face, it was a combination of enjoyment of the slide and pride at having done it herself.

And the grandmother and child? They belonged to the wedding party that exited the nearby church just as we were getting ready to leave. We hope they had as good a day as we did. Maybe even better.