Hoping for a playdate!

One of my friends just became a SAHM. Whenever we run into each other we both say "Call me! Let's play!" and we never call. Yesterday, I thought about calling her all day to ask if she'd like to meet up at a park, and the procrastinator/home body in me never called. So, I'm going to call as soon as I think the hour is acceptable and hope they can meet up with us. If not, well, we're still going to a park this morning. When E was little we went to parks all the time, but two kids later we're lucky if we go once a month! That's just sad, so I'm doing something about it. I'm a huge fan of playgrounds. Even a lousy playground offers novelty. I don't know about your kids, but my kids love exploring new places. If the play equipment is sub-standard, we'll explore the edges of the space, looking for bugs and wild flowers. And as a teacher, I am well versed in the value of physical play. There are volumes of research detailing benefits - kids are meant to move, a lot! We have a kid friendly back yard with plenty of space and toys to encourage activity, but there' nothing like a wide open park with it's big equipment and other kids to get us all really moving. I also found this article full of ideas for making playground time more interactive for the whole family. So much fun to be had!

Oh, and two pictures from yesterday's garden adventures. We didn't have millions of beans to pick, but the kids had fun anyway. A spent most of his time looking for cherry tomatoes - his favorite thing in the world. M was a good helper with the beans, and then we all enjoyed our Popsicles in the shade.