The Castle

This past weekend our minichurch had a picnic and went to a playground that featured a huge wooden castle. It is a child's fantasy playground- as we pulled up, and we caught our first glimpse, E said," I am so excited-- I can't stand it!!" The main castle has ramps, slides, ladders, passageways, bridges and stairs. Then around the area are a couple of smaller castles for toddlers, and then swings, sandboxes, play houses, etc. The first couple of times Ed and I went up to the top with E. Sometimes it was a tight fit, like when Ed followed E and crawled the entire way up on ramps (he thought it was the only way up). And then we went down the "dark slide" together a few times(seen on the right) once you get past the first curve, it's pitch black all the way down. But after E became comfortable, she and her friends were running in and out, up and down all by themselves. ( You can probably imagine how difficult it is to get a child to leave!) N enjoyed watching, and then crawling up and down a bleacher area until he slipped (partly my fault because I was trying to take his picture and let him fall rather than the camera) and cried and cried. After a cuddle, he cheered up, and was ready to play again, although later I felt badly when I discovered his fat lip, and realized why he had been crying so hard. But he happily resumed his cruising and walking around, and seemed none the worse for wear. We left as the mosquitos were coming out, but are eager to return-- hopefully the next time Grayson and Alice visit we can go up together. It seems like a great place to go with friends, so that the kids can enjoy running together, and kind of look out for each other inside. E is already talking about when we can go back.