Playground

We went to the splash pad/playground this afternoon.  It was 101 degrees on the car thermometer.  But the weird thing was that I didn't get too hot.  The wind was blowing and that, and the water, was enough to keep us cool. 

Kate did some really neat things.  Usually she is quite timid at the playground, doesn't like to be up high, feels uncomfortable climbing and being unstable.  Well, today, she tried a bunch of new elements.  I wish I had pictures, I will try to add them another time.

A boy was there, probably about 6.  He was showing her how to spin around on a circle that was 6 or so feet up in the air.  He would grab onto it and hang down and spin around and back to the platform.  Then he told Kate how to do it, which direction to go, and was really encouraging.  She actually tried it!!  And not once either.  She tried it and kept doing it until she got the hang of it and felt comfortable.  First time EVER!!!  Then he told her to get on and when she was halfway around, he would get on and they both could cruise around together.  So that is what happened.  She grabbed on and swung around, he grabbed on and they both were swinging around.  Kate was able to hold on the entire time until she got back to the platform.  It was sooo fun to watch.  After a while she got tired and would ask for help if she couldn't make it back to the platform.  BUT, one time I told her she could just drop to the ground (about 2 feet below her) and she said "I know" and she DID!!!  She is so much better at knowing where her body is in space and seems able to judge distances better.

She was climbing up elements that she hasn't climbed up before and didn't hesitate a bit to go down the slide.  She even climbed across the spider web ropes.

It was really fun to see how she's changed.  We haven't been to the playground in quite a while, so the differences were really noticeable.