Outdoor Shaneannigans Part 2

Now that I've introduced you to life in our driveway, I need to paint the rest of the picture.

Shane and I don't typically stay just in our driveway.

The walking tradition started back at the townhouse. My early post mentioning it was back in June 2011, but I know I started when the weather turned nice (maybe as early as May). It was a great way to get a little exercise, get out of the house, keep the boy happy, and tucker him out for bed time. Back then, Shane sat calmly and made me do all the work.

Nowadays, Shane "helps." I figure I do more work with his "help" than I did without!

There's a choice at the end of the driveway.

If I go left, Shane will cry. He will slam his head back in the stroller and let his displeasure be known.

If I go right, Shane will not. He will point ahead and yell "SEE!!?!?!?!"

You wouldn't think that it made much of a difference, but Shane knows what he likes. To the left, there's a cul-de-sac (where the little girls who played with Shane live), but there are no cars. The right goes to the main entrance of out neighborhood.

There also happens to be a broken driveway

Shane used to find this utterly fascinating. He would refuse to walk by without plopping down and playing with gravel. Nowadays, he's more focused on reaching the corner.

We spend a lot of our time on the corner. There's a lot of activity. There's cars, school buses, people walking, bicycles, and of course....

AIRPLANES!!!!!

"SEEEE!?!?!??!?!??!"

"PWAYNE!!!!"

"See?"

We see a ton of airplanes everyday. Some fly very low. It's a perk of being near an airport. You can tell Shane "Listen!" and he'll immediately stop whatever he's doing. "Do you hear?" has Shane scanning the skies.   It's a constant source of distraction and entertainment.

As are garbage bins. Shane likes to stop and tip them over. Dada prevents any excessive fun and/or messes.

But, wait...."Listen!"

"What do you hear?"

"It's another airplane!"

Shane enjoys his walks. He walks high. He walks low. He runs in places I don't want him to go!

 

Children are curious by nature. Shane's no exception. If there's something interesting in a yard like a swing, gravel, pumpkins, a ball and/or dogs then Shane is going to want a closer look. Shane likes to go through yards, up driveways, and he loves to tell me the status of garage doors. If someone is opening or closing theirs we stop in our tracks to watch the show. He likes to chase squirrels and rabbits too! Shane is generally fearless. Whenever he does act shy it always comes as a surprise to me. There have been times he's tried to help a stranger push their stroller!

One block over, there's a side street with a lot of walnuts. Shane likes to stop and throw them.

There must be dozen of these little "stops" Shane enjoys. What makes this one stand out, is it's right across from a historical graveyard.

Most of the tombstones are old and worn, but there was a new one with a date of 2011! I don't know the story behind the plot, but it is active. It's neat and strange all at the same time. Our neighborhood is full of character.

This driveway to nothingness always amuses me. Shane's not terribly impressed, but it does mark the "Kitty" house. The owner has a thing for strays as far as I can tell. There's usually at least a couple of cats lounging around in the yard or hiding in the bushes that Shane likes to point out. There are days he picks the out before I do! His eyesight is at least 20/20.

                         

And stop signs. We have lots of stop signs. Shane loves to shake and point at those. It's a happy coincidence that the ramp down to the street from the sidewalk near many stop signs is a different texture. Shane will stop and sit on them to ponder whatever toddlers ponder...

...until the next airplane flies over.

 Have I mentioned Shane likes planes?

There's also a house right down the street under construction. We'r not normally lucky enough to see any machinery working, but Shane loves to point at the stationary ones too. The highway we hop on has construction galore going on right now, so there's other ways to get our backhoe and bulldozer fix.

Have I mentioned I really like our neighborhood? It's beautiful in the fall. Everyone seems welcoming and kid-friendly, as well. Still, there's no local playgrounds. When Shane and I want to get our slide or swing on, we have to make a short journey.

There's a public park a 3 minute drive away. We could walk to it, but I don't normally want to walk a mile one way with a directionally challenged Absolutely Darn Delightful child. It's got a tire swing and a fun area to climb and slide.

Shane used to be excited by swings, but not so much anymore. He's more focused on climbing and sliding. There's a music making thing-a-ma-jig underneath the playset he likes to bang on, too. My son is no Beethoven or Mozart (yet?).

Closer to home (and in walking distance) is a church playground. We have to walk across an occasionally busy street to reach it. If traffic is bad we park ourselves on the corner and watch the cars go by. If there's not a lot of traffic (like on Saturday mornings) we trot across. Once we're in the parking lot, I'll let Shane sprint down to the playground.

I love this picture. What you're not seeing is the aftermath when I drop the iPad into the stroller and book it after my son! 

The playground is full of lots of little playsets and a big climbing one. Shane usually runs all over the place. He drags their toy cars around, hops on the John Deere tractor, and rolls in the mulch. I've never been quite sure on if the church minds us showing up to play or not but "let the children come to me," right?

 

A lot goes on when Shane and I go out.

There are many pictures and many stops that didn't make the cut,

but I hope I gave you an idea of the journeys of Shane and Dada.

No babies were bored in the production of this blog.

In fact, some babies stopped to play with dandelions.

That uses up most of my materials. I'm seriously done for now.