Just Another Day at Owen Bell Park

The weather here has been absolutely ridiculous this year.  We had a crazy freak snowstorm in October that dumped over a foot of snow on us and knocked our power out for 5 days and then we've had 50 degree days in December and absolutely no snow so far (though we're supposed to get some tonight).  Last week there was a nice crisp practically fall day, so we decided to take Mr. No out to Owen Bell Park to play.  He needed the fresh air, with this cold that won't let go of either one of us, and the exercise.  I could not believe the difference in Mr. No at the playground!  He used to be afraid of everything and tell us that it was all too hard.  Not any more!  Now we have a fearless monkey!  I love it.  This slide used to scare him. Now it's no big thing.

 

 Mr. No's baby came along to play.  It's funny the various reactions we get from other people when they see Mr. No with a doll.  Everything from snide under the breath comments to praise from other parents.  Toys are toys.  Period.  Adults are the ones who label them by gender not children so we don't either.  He wanted the baby, so he got the baby. 

Then he started tackling the climbing walls as if they were nothing special.  I think putting him in preschool a year early was the best decision ever.  He has confidence.  He approaches other kids.  He plays well with other kids.  He's not afraid to try.  I love this (almost) fearless Mr. No.

He needed a little help from H on this one but it was on the equipment for older kids.

These two are just me playing around.  

he refused to walk on it.  he just wanted to slide himself across it.

Anyone who knows H knows that he has to play, too.  The little zip line was too much fun for him.  

a little scared here...

Since H had so much fun, of course Mr. No wanted a turn...or 3.  H barely held onto him. It amazes me how much upper body strength little kids have!

I have never once seen Mr. No attempt to climb this or even go near this ladder before.  He jumped on it and climbed right up as if he'd been doing it for years.  I was so impressed with him!  I was also impressed with myself for not going into overprotective mom mode and instead just standing back and letting him do things on his own.  Have to pat myself on the back a little sometimes!

I usually don't let Mr. No go on these swings.  Mostly because I want him to learn how to swing by himself but also because I don't think he should be using it.  This one already had the safety straps damaged and removed (which is why kids who don't need them shouldn't play on them) so H put him on it.  He loved it because he didn't have to do any work at all, not even to stay on.  Lazy!

H was catching him and tickling him.  it looks so bizarre, though.

I decided to spare H the embarrassment of posting the photos with him pushing since his leg went up in the air every time.  He looked absolutely ridiculous.  Push and up goes the swing and up goes his leg.  Oh, H...  Here is one of him being his normal weird self on the climbing chain...thing?  He was just howling in admiration of himself. 

And we ended with Mr. No in the tube that he loves.  

We did stay a bit longer because H and Mr. No ran into a little girl and her mom that they had played with at the Ecotarium.  Mr. No didn't want to leave her but H had to get to work.  All in all, a fantastic afternoon as usual!

Another Day at the Park

H had the weekend off and of course it thunder stormed on Friday which dashed our plans to go to Free Fun Friday at Plimouth Plantation.  We spent the majority of the day at home.  Saturday, however, was gorgeous.  Of course we had to get Mr. No outside for some running time, so we decided to head to Owen Bell Park.  For once, we remembered to bring the outside toys!  We arrived at the park armed with Superhero Squad ball, frisbee and bubble stuff.  Mr. No and I ran around with the ball for a while then H took over for a bit. It was too windy for the frisbee though Mr. No did try his hardest to get it to H and the bubbles were all but forgotten. 

The little pond there is always the biggest draw for Mr. No.  He soon forgot all about running around and went in search for wildlife.  We found 2 super cute little squirrels playing around a tree.  One was snacking on a pine cone.

Squirrel #1

Squirrel #2

While I was snagging a few photos of the squirrels, Mr. No called me over to the pond to see the fish he found. He was super excited and I soon saw why.  There were so many fish!

crazy amount of fish!

While searching for even more fish, Mr. No spotted a snail shell and then the hunt was on for more shells.  I don't think we've ever seen shells there before and now Mr. No was practically in the water!

Mr. No's shells

While trying to keep Mr. No from wading out into the water while H went off to buy himself a snack, I noticed the crazy amount of dragonflies around and huge dragonflies,too.  I tried to get a photo of one of the huge ones but they just wouldn't cooperate!  This gorgeous red one was in a model mood though and barely budged when I got super close to get his photo.

Of course Mr. No was still shell hunting, though he did get up close and personal with the dragonfly who fluttered away for a minute before returning to his perch.

H returned, not with the ice cream he had hoped for, but with fried dough instead.  He had the idea to give that to the two ducks who had wandered over and of course Mr. No wanted some to toss.  The ducks weren't interested...but the fish were!  They were practically fighting over it and splashing all over the place.

fish going for the piece of fried dough

fish splash!

We did visit the playground for a few minutes but everything was too hot.  They really need canopies or something over playgrounds.  The equipment just gets too darn hot!

headed for the spiral slide

Then we piled into the car because Mr. No and I had a date with Nana before I had to shoot off to work.  A surprising and super fun day for Mr. No.  He certainly slept well that night!