The Many Adventures of a Very Active Toddler

I recently had an epiphany:

Why should I keep Brooklyn at our house all day every day and let her wreak havoc there when we can go somewhere else and I don’t have to worry about putting everything back in its place???

I’m not sure why it took me this long to figure that out. Nevertheless, last week and this week we have spent more time outside and going to “do fun things” than we probably have all summer long. Does that make me a bad mom? Don’t answer that :)

Last week, we went to a local neighborhood park (Creekwood) for the first time just to check it out. There were a couple of other kids there, but Brooklyn had plenty of room to run around and explore. I helped her climb up and down the equipment and go down the slides, and tried to keep her contained within the actual playground. There is a lot of open space around the playground because there is a walking/running trail, disc golf course, and dog park nearby also. There are also a few covered picnic tables, which is nice during the hot summertime. It’s a neat place! I’m sure we’ll go back, especially once the weather cools off a little!

Swinging!

Brooklyn walked and walked and walked around the playground. She definitely got her exercise that afternoon!

More exploring :)

Last Wednesday, we went to another playground, but this one was INDOORS in the A/C! It’s called KidVenture, and it’s in Madison about 20 minutes from our house. It’s free for adults, and kids 2 and under are also free, so it didn’t cost us anything! There were several other kids and parents there that morning, but it wasn’t super crowded or anything. They have a special area gated off for the little ones, which was nice so that I didn’t have to worry about Brooklyn getting run over by a bigger kid. She loved it! We stayed about an hour and a half, and she was worn out when we left! :)

The ball pit was her favorite!

We’ll have to go back here a bunch before February when it’s not free anymore! :)

Last Thursday afternoon, we played out in the backyard while Travis was cutting the grass. Little did Brooklyn know it would be her last time to play on our swingset. Whoops! It doesn’t look too bad from a distance, but up close you can tell that it’s not in great shape. A lot of the wooden pieces are rotting, and it just needs some work that we aren’t willing to put into it. Travis and I have been talking about replacing it for a long time, and finally we decided that we’ll get a new one sometime soon (I hope!).

“Helping” Daddy fix the lawnmower :)

Sliding down the slide for one of the last times…

Giving Daddy a high five while he was mowing

That girl loves to climb…

…and slide down backwards on her belly! She knows no fear! :)

So, Friday evening, I listed our playset on a Facebook yard sale group as free under the condition that whoever wanted it had to disassemble it and haul it off themselves. I was trying to save Travis the trouble of having to do that himself. Within an hour of listing it, I had at least 10-12 people interested…haha. I think the pictures made it look better than it actually was. The first two people who came and looked at it said “no thanks” when they saw it in person. Finally, Saturday afternoon a guy came with his son and they took it all apart and hauled it away in about 2 hours. Yay! I guess it’s really true that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. Hopefully they will be able to get some use out of it!

Until we get another playset set up in the backyard, Brooklyn will have to make do with a Fisher Price plastic slide that I found on Craigslist for $25. So far, she loves it! We’ve played on it almost every day this week. It’s lightweight enough that we can keep it under the covered part of our patio and drag it out into the grass when we want to use it. I’m glad she likes it so far!

Why is she obsessed with climbing up slides??

Doing the splits…haha!

That doesn’t look comfortable :)

Much better!

On Monday morning, we went up to Bridgestreet to play in the pop up fountains for the first time. Unfortunately, a lot of other people had the same idea! It was pretty crowded, but that didn’t stop Brooklyn from getting out there with the bigger kids. She thought it was great! She loves the water :) The only thing that would have made it better was if the fountain area was gated off somehow. I just cannot keep Brooklyn contained. She KEPT running off, and I would have to go chase her down. One time, she even waved and said “bye bye” and then took off running in the opposite direction. That girl! Spanking and doing “timeout” in the stroller for a few minutes didn’t do any good, so unfortunately we had to leave after about 30 minutes. But, it was fun while it lasted!

Hopefully, next time we go back she will mind better and stay in the fountains or nearby at least :)

This is her “happy” face during timeout…haha

So, those have been our big adventures out and and about lately! Now, for a few random pictures around the house…

Wearing Mommy’s shoes is a new obsession…

Where’s Brooklyn???

Making messes is still a daily ritual!

Eating is so much fun!

Sometimes, when the weather is nice (like last night!), we eat supper outside on the back patio.

It’s a lot of fun!

After Brooklyn finishes her supper, she will run around and play while we sit and eat. We need to do this more often when it gets cooler outside. Last night was perfect!

The past two Sundays, Brooklyn has worn dresses and bonnets that were her Aunt Alisha’s originally. This one was made by Cici!

…and this one was made by Baugay! Now, someone please explain why Brooklyn will wear a bonnet, but not a hair bow, headband, or anything else in her hair??? :)

Yesterday morning was unseasonably cool with low humidity and hardly a cloud in the sky. It felt more like fall than late July! We walked/jogged about 5 miles, and it was so nice that I could’ve stayed outside all day :)