Playgrounds!

Shane loves a good playground. There is no neighborhood playground for my development, but there are a ton in the community near by. 

Shane and I decided to go sample some of them. I've never seen any "playground police," and that probably wouldn't have stopped us anyway! It's a shame to let good playgrounds go unused.

The first playground was on the way to our grocery store. No kids, but a fun quick romp.

Playground stop number two was surrounded by townhomes. It was so new, that the swings were flat!

We had to run home for a moment, but playground number three had a roller Shane found fascinating.

After a while, Shane decided that he did NOT want to be on the same side of the fence as me. Shane would demand I stand outside the fence if he was in it. If I came into the playground, he would try to run out and away. There was a road nearby, so (of course) I wouldn't let him.

The boy is stubborn! Nana dubbed him "Mr. Independent." I was a little annoyed that my son didn't want me on the same mulch as him when I was taking him playground hopping, but the roller eventually mesmerized him and I snuck back in. How do you think I got pictures?

I was ready to pack Shane up when another family arrived.

At first, Shane bawled. It was his playground! He did not want anyone else there and he opened the gate and tried to do a high-drama run off into the sunset. I apologized, dragged him back and gave him a "quit it"/"nice boys share"/"I love it when you're friendly!" sort of talk.

We hung to the swings at first, but soon Shane decided the other kids were okay after all.

I'm a sucker for socializing my son, so Shane and I hung out for close to another half an hour. Once Shane started to play, I did my best to fade and let the kids be kids. It helped that the little girl was patient and used to playing with her 4 year-old brother.

The other mother didn't really respond to a few questions/statements I asked, so I parked over to the side. She spoke to her kids in an Asianic language, too. I think it was Mandarin. I recognize some Japanese, and it didn't have the 'sing-songiness' I associate with Korean, but she didn't speak long enough for me to really say anything for sure. Mainly, I was happy her kids were playing around and sometimes with mine!

Plus, I was in an extra good mood: Shane didn't crap himself on three different playgrounds! Maybe he only feels comfortable doing his #2 in plastic tunnels.