Day at the Park

It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal [surrounding] for the unfolding of his capacities. ~ ~ Eric Hoffer

It is with great trepidation that a mom of teens (and younger) suggests a morning at the park . . . for ALL the kids. "Mo-o-o-o-o-m, come on!" However, it was a gloriously beautiful morning, there is sunshine to be soaked in, there is air to be breathed, and you just can't spend all your life on Facebook, after all. To their credit, I will say that they all the "olders" remained quite cheerful at the prospect of park and picnic. They expected to watch Youngest Daughter play, push her on the swing, sprawl lazily on the grass, and do a little surreptitious texting on the side . . . when Mom wasn't looking.

Who knew, then, the magical draw of The Park. Who knew that The Park could wondrously make years melt away and that the same enchantment delighting a 5 year-old could draw in a Big Kid??

Oldest Daughter found out she could still fit (kind of) on the bouncy car that "sproings" her back and forth.




Youngest Son found he could scale the to the top of the peak and proclaim himself King of the Mountain.



Oldest Son found out he could spin around dizzily on some sort of revolving ring and hysterically try to keep from flying off.

(My deepest apologies to the poor woman whose backside is now captured for all eternity on my blog!)



Oldest Daughter and Oldest Son found some other teens in the park and a game of volleyball ensued.

Middle Son found that even a newly minted teenager could be challenged to balance while having a conversation with friends on a rotating circle of bright blue plastic.

And Youngest Daughter found a friend.

Just occasionally it's nice to watch the newly found sophistication of teenagers melt away in the still joyful delights of play.