The Great Outdoors!

Today was a wonderful day. It was fun, and it was a success! We went to a park nearby that has a great play area for kids. There is also a McDonald's with a play place in the town, so we knew that if necessary we could make our exit with promise of play for Ellie and ice cream for the other two girls.

We started our day with Andy and Ellie running and well... I don't know! I was swinging Nina and Nichole. Nichole was not too happy to stay there for long, but we swung for a while!

Yes, this was Nichole saying, "Dowwwwn!"

The girls were definitely done swinging and wanted to be with Ellie. Somehow Andy convinced Nina that it was okay to crawl around in a shaded area. This is huge! Nina crawling outside (and with shorts!) it was great! She was crawling in some tunnels while Nichole was content crawling or sitting. This is a challenging place for Nichole, but the ultimate physical therapy place for her, so we were trying to push her as much as she would let us.

(Yes, that is Andy in the background, he was watching Nina)

Ellie just loved this place and there were some older kids from a school. The older girls said she was so cute with her sunglasses and necklace and it just made her day!

Nichole engaged in some rascal behavior by taking off. Actually she walked a lot! All over the playground, as well as trying to find...a sidewalk? A road? Not sure, but there is a lot of grass and she eventually turned around.

Then Nichole and I found Nina on her knees on rocks! Andy must have had a magic wand or something because her kneeling on rocks outside is not common! So Nina and Nichole played with the rocks for a long time while Andy chased Ellie all over the place. I couldn't see them, but I could hear the giggles and the growls.

Eventually we were all hot, sweaty, and hungry. We headed to McDonald's, why not! All three girls did wonderful, and Nina was so confident that she climbed the play structure there all on her own! Wow! Yeah, say it with me...Wow!!!

We got home with smiles. It was a wonderful day. The girls did great and it was enjoyable! Sometimes we leave places because we have to, usually someone has lost it, and yes, sometimes it is one of the parents! But today was a success, for all. Nina is getting over her fear of different grounds and this place was just perfect!

Maybe it is the reality that we are learning to function as a family of 5 and with 2 girls that need a little extra help. I don't know. What I do know, is that I felt like God was smiling down on us, enjoying the day with us, watching us with pleasure. And we were smiling right back!