Sharing a moment

It's cold and muddy at the park but we made sure we got out for some fresh air and it was well worth it.

I have been reading the benefits of encouraging independent play. It is much easier outside and I tried to encourage Oscar and Bailee to use their imaginations and find their own fun from nature. There were two older boys at the park and they were totally entertained watching them. The boys showed them how to mix water into the sand and make 'clay'. They dripped it down to make a castle. Maple was very interested too and they all played and played for an hour and a half. I just kept having to pull things out of Maple's mouth. She thinks it is hilarious to put a shell/stone/bottle top/sand in her mouth and run away from me.

Speaking of bottle tops, there was a little boy down there with a metal canister full of them! They provided serious entertainment, putting them in and out, for Maple. I did notice the little boy had a dummy in his mouth the whole time.... so of course, there wasn't the issue of trying to get him to not put these small, checkable items in his mouth as we had with Maple.