I really wanted to visit a museum today, but it seems the ones I was interested in, or the ones close enough for me to walk to are all closed on Mondays. After all the beautiful weather we've been experiencing, it seems we are in for some HOT days. Still, I didn't think walking 18 short blocks to Riverside Park to check out the Hippo Playground would be all that bad. I suppose it wasn't all in all too bad, but I am now 20.5 weeks pregnant, and it was in the 90's today, so yeah, it was tough. As much as I wanted to turn around, I figured we were more than halfway there, so we trudged on.
We finally made our left turn at 91st street up from our 73rd street apartment location. I saw lots of trees, so that was a pleasant sight. We went down an incredibly steep hill to get down to Hippo Playground, and all I could think about was how bad it was going to suck going back up.
The playground was packed, and I mean packed. It was one with a water feature, which I generally loathe when combined with play equipment because, well, I just find it dangerous when the equipment becomes slippery. I have enough trouble keeping Charlotte safe at a dry playground (Maybe now is a good time to read Blessings of a Skinned Knee.).
Still, I knew I was in for a tiring time at the playground. It was fairly large, and extremely crowded, so keeping up with both girls was a challenge, and Charlotte needs constant supervision. She is terrible at the high openings in play structures. Why they have to ruin a perfectly good play structure for a 2 year old by adding a high drop off is beyond me. Then again, Bea is so risk averse, she never would have attempted it at Charlotte's age.
Photos of girls at Hippo Playground to come.
I was taken back by a little boy who had gone up the slide in front of Bea (who was behind Charlotte). I didn't say anything to him, but Bea looked at me like she couldn't believe he did that, and I told her that she needs to be confident and stand her ground. Then the little boy pushed past Charlotte on the ladder (very tall ladder, by the way), and when Charlotte grabbed his shirt (this is my child that can be more assertive), he looked at her indignantly and said, "Stop grabbing me! I don't like that!". Well, the kid is told how to stand up or himself, I'll give home props for that, but I hope he's being told that cutting in line and pushing past other kids and not waiting his turn is inappropriate.
And then, my 2 year old feels the need to stomp in every.single.puddle. She got to one before I could stop her, just stomped right in the middle of it, and a childcare worker told me she thought it was urine. Nice! I wiped her off, and the girls played for a little longer, but to be honest, playgrounds are a nightmare with Charlotte. I have to follow her around, sometimes mapping out how I'm going to get from one high opening to another high opening on the other side. Today, I almost didn't make it. I was standing at an opening on one side of the play structure, and Charlotte started to crawl down the ladder on the other side. Thankfully, another helpful mom put her arm out long enough for me to get over there.
Well, after I had enough of that, we packed up. I got the girls ice ream from one of those many vendors that stalk the playgrounds (Thank you, vendor people! ^sarcasm). The ice cream they sell has the ability to stain clothes like no other agent. Serious.
Now, time to go back up the hill. Bea walked up to take the load off me, but it was still hard. I imagine this hill is quite nice in the dead o winter when there is ice on it. I made it to the top, and took a photo of the playground down below.
Photo of Hippo Playground from top of hill.
Since we are in for a few hot ays, I stopped at West Side Kids, a toy store at 84th & Amsterdam, since it was on the way home. I picked up the Melissa and Doug shape puzzle set for Charlotte, another Calico Critters set for Bea (she got the Children's bedroom, some drawing paper, and a few outdoor toys, in hopes the weather will get nice again before we leave. $90 down, but hopefully it will keep them entertained for a little bit
Photo of Bea drawing to come.
Bea told me she misses the cats, an that's why she drew them. I love that she drew herself sliding own the cat's tail.
Photo of Charlotte sleeping in stroller to come.
This s how Charlotte chose to spend her time this afternoon. Not a bad idea.
Charlotte fell asleep on the way home and slept for 3 hours while Bea played with her new toys. It's 4:33 now, and I plan to go down to the basement to wash a few things before dinner.
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