Hooray for Spring!!!!

FINALLY... we had a gorgeous, promise that life will once again be good, day. Hooray!

We kicked off the celebration of good weather with a trip to one of our favorite playgrounds and parks with some of our favorite friends, Colin and Nathaniel. The playground is completely fenced in, a bonus for parents, and its groundcover is sand, a huge hit with the little kids. It has two play areas, one for toddlers and one for big kids. Maia loves aspects of both, and we spend much time running between the two. Today she was mostly in the mood to slide and swing. She started out running as fast as she could across the drawbridge, and then going down the toddler slide. After a few runs, she decided she was ready for the big kid slide. And she went down it... without any prompting. She can be a little reticent to try challenges or risks at times, so it's always thrilling for us when she dives right in and gives something a try. She loved the big slide and went right back up and down several times. After a few minutes in the little kid swings, she decided she was ready for the big kid version. She did great holding on with both hands while I tried not to push her right off the swing. Now we just need to teach her to pump her legs!

After an hour of running around the playground, Nathaniel's very prego-Mommy suggested we head over to see the animals. The kids were psyched, and it gave the Mommies and Daddy a break from the constant chase of the playground. The sheep were looking a little mangy, aren't they supposed to be sheared come Spring?!, but the kids didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Maia happily sang "Baa Baa Black Sheep" at the top of her lungs to them, though she couldn't get Colin or Nathaniel to join in. (To be fair, they're 10 months younger than her, and boys...) The big hit of the farmyard, however, was the birds... Chickens, Geese, ducks, and of course, a rooster! The kids alternated between being fascinated and terrified of them- particularly when a chicken would leap from a fence and come running full speed in what seemed to be a direct line to one of them. We spent a long time clucking, honking, and quacking.

The other big hit of the farm area was a ramp leading up to the Hay Barn. The ramp is about 20 feet long, and covered in sand and gravel. For their first ramp activity, the trio of toddlers raced up and down it, over and over and over again. After a bit, though, they settled in at the top for some good old-fashioned sand and gravel flinging. They managed to avoid hitting each other or getting it in their eyes, and so they were allowed to continue. After a while of this, Maia was convinced it was time to head home for lunch (and a nap!), though not before she said goodbye to each and every chicken, goose, duck, and sheep. Not wanting to spend another 2 hours sitting in the car while starving, I bribed her to stay awake for the car ride with a chocolate chip granola bar. Fool that I am... She finished it almost before we were out of the parking lot! Luckily, however, she was pretty wound up from the excitement of the morning, and did make it home with eyes open. There were many protests to the napping suggestion, but she succumbed fairly quickly and woke up an hour and a half later in a fabulous mood.

After a lunch of tofu-lin, avocado, cheddar cheese, and balsamic vinaigrette (all her requests, and she did actually ask for a spoon at the end to scoop up her left over vinaigrette) we headed back into the gorgeous day to walk Gritty. Maia was delighted to be free of her stroller blanket and rain/wind cover, and sang for pretty much the entire hour. Gritty was his usual goober self, whining and barking with excitement as we approached the Ocean. Sadly, Mommy never lets him swim when it's crowded and I have the stroller. Such a difficult life he leads!

After visiting with some of the neighbors as we returned home, we headed right out to the yard for some more playtime. Maia has an awesome bubble maker... It's battery powered, and pretty much fills our entire yard with bubbles. We decided today was the day to break it out, and it was just as thrilling as we remembered. Maia had a blast chasing the bubbles, watching them float away, and then deciding to twirl with them. When the bubbles ran out, we headed out into the street/park to play with the big kids.

Our little street is an awesome smattering of kids- next door are three boys ranging in age from 7 down to three months; across from them are two boys, 8 and 10; down the street is a 1 year old boy. Notice a theme... we've got the only girls on the street! Regardless, Maia LOVES all of the kids. And now she wants to be one of the big boys. She follows them everywhere, and they are all wonderful with her. It should be an interesting summer as she tries to keep up with them!

I was shocked when she willingly came in the house to help me make dinner! We made cream cheese frittata, one of our favorites. Maia loves to help with chopping veggies, and did a great job on the mushrooms with a butter knife. She ate a great serving, and then announced she was ready for bed. Will wonders never cease??!! All in all, an awesome day with an awesome kid.