The Park Crawl

One lovely evening last week that Daddy finally didn't have an evening commitment, we went on a park crawl. It wasn't meant to be a park crawl, but circumstances forced us to leave our first choice behind. We had no idea what was in store for us initially as we crossed the picturesque bridge over the Sligo Creek.

The swings were some of the best we'd ever seen, high enough that Mini-Me & Shrimp got some of the best underdogs of their lives.
Meanwhile, Domba & Bub were having fun exploring the play structure, which was sadly roped off. It didn't look damaged so I stepped forward for a closer look...

And realized that all the wriggling black stuff that I'd mistaken for pollen blossoms was in fact, massive quantities of tent caterpillars.

Bub & Domba were in heaven. For a couple of months now, they have loved long wiggly things. It all started with a piece of grass that floated around in their bath and was eventually dubbed "Geo" and rescued from several watery graves for over a half hour before finally taking the short route to the sewer. This fascination has escalated to include worms, then caterpillars, and finally the 8" long, 3/4" wide millipede at the fair yesterday.

I wasn't impressed. I became, if possible, less impressed when I discovered they were dropping willy nilly from the slide, the tree they were commuting from, and eventually, the very swing-set my little babies were on. As the ultimate denouement, the one Bub was nurturing spit red stuff all over her thumb and skort, and Domba's Geo had spun gossamer threads of the goo from hell all over her hands. Long story short, Mama and her entomophobia grabbed Mini-Me and made for the car before they could eat her alive.

Day at the Park, Take 2:
We had passed the "Boat Park" on our way to Caterpillar Hell Park, so we about-faced and made for what we hoped wouldn't be so full of Geos. The boat was fun for the girls to play on--Mini-Me especially liked the peek-a-boo through the porthole.
Shrimp keep an eye on all the comings and goings on the high seas...
And the Daddy/Domba spider and Bub tried out the Geo-free swings.
Eventually everyone (except Mama who was glued to the cell phone) gravitated to the lovely field next-door and pulled out the 5 Frisbees that miraculously appeared out of nowhere.
Daddy worked on their forehands and backhands with them. Mini-Me even showed off her Hammer throw.
At one point, Shrimp decided to try and trade Mini-Me Frisbees. Somehow, Mini-Me just ended up with both.
When Shrimp asked for one back, Mini-Me obliging lobbed both of them all of 2 feet.
Shrimp was very appreciative.
Everyone hit the final outer goal in their disc golf game and turned around to play to home. (Check out the action shot of Domba!)
People were getting tired and hot.
Daddy threw 4 Frisbees at once for fun...
And then it happened. Mini-Me let out a screech of delight and raced toward the black doggie that had come just for her own pleasure and cuddling enjoyment.
She tried to share her Frisbee with him (i.e., she shoved it at his mouth as hard as she could).
Fortunately this dog was old and used to little kids and didn't bat an eyelash.
After lots of love and pats, she tore herself away from her favoritest, cutest, most beloved doggie she'd seen all day.
We got a cute pose that Daddy will frame when she is an international Ultimate star:
OH, wait, Daddy, there's ANOTHER doggie!
And it's even favoriter, cuter, and more beloved than all the dogs she'd seen all hour!
Thus ended our park crawl. Mini-Me was torn by the merciless parents from her beloved canine friends and put in bed (a.k.a., prison). Still, it was a good night. And Mama only found one tiny little green Geo on Mini-Me at the second park...