New Playground in Columbia!

We've discovered a new place to go for indoor play time fun, right here in Columbia, Maryland! I saw an email from one of the parent groups I belong to that mentioned Play N' Learn has open and free playtime on Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Knowing next to nothing about it, we decided to go anyway.

Jacob and Lucy had a great time. The store sells mostly outdoor playing equipment, including swing sets, trampolines, climbing walls, basketball hoops, and other fun stuff. They also provide pool tables, ping pong tables, air hockey, Foosball, and other indoor entertainments. The children played almost entirely on the outdoor equipment and had a grand time of it:

Jacob slides so fast he comes out blurry!

Lucy slides even faster. Eat you heart out, Flash!

These chains can't hold me!

Lucy loved climbing, though it made Daddy nervous.

A race to the top!

Even the outside of the store looks cool.

We definitely recommend going if you are in Columbia or finding one near you if you aren't in Columbia.

Cry Room Chronicles XVI

We were all alone in the Children's Chapel this week, which was definitely a good thing. Lucy has been teething for a week, so her sleep pattern is at best erratic. Certainly, it has been insufficient. As a result she was pretty cranky today in church. She wanted to go back and forth between mommy and daddy and to wander around. But she was never really satisfied and she let us know it. She had new shoes on too, so that might have added to her discomfort.

Jacob did fairly well. He was reading through his book with the occasional repetition of words from Mass like "Holy Spirit" or "Thanks be to God." He did sing along with the Alleluia part of the opening hymn, for which I cannot remember the name. He also sang at the Gospel's Alleluia. Again, he put money into the book box instead of the poor box, so we've got another 25 cents towards something. I should be keeping track. Lucy put her change in the poor box, so the poor made out better than the books this week. Jacob did want to see the musicians after communion, but the 8 a.m. Mass only has an organist. He watched with mommy while I took Lucy back to the Children's Chapel.

After Mass, we went to the church's playground. The weather was cool and crisp; the equipment was still dewy. Jacob had a great time climbing around, though at one point he insisted that I not touch him while he was climbing across a precarious part. I tried to explain to him that if I let go, he'd drop to the ground. I was supporting all of his weight. He refused to acknowledge my argument and kept insisting that I let go of him. So, I let him drop kept him up in spite of his denial of his need for me. I wonder how God puts up with us insisting on our own way and using own abilities, when He's really holding us up completely. He must have a LOT of patience. I hope He keeps my patience up with Jacob and Lucy.

I don't remember anything from the sermon on today's readings, but I got the message on the playground.

Jacob Plays with Fire, or at least the Remains of Fire

Jacob was a little disappointed today that we didn't go to his favorite "car" park by Lake Elkhorn. In stead, we went to the playground in Savage. He did remember that park and had a good time riding the slides and such. Lucy also enjoyed climbing up the play equipment and riding on the swings.

After a while, Jacob decided to investigate outside the play area, which meant exploring the picnic tables and grills. Lucy kept playing on the swings and I figured she needed me more than he did, so I let him have freedom to explore. He was fascinated by the grills and played a lot with the charcoal, becoming quite charcoally himself. I didn't realize this until it was far too late. He admitted that his hands were dirty,

I'm a boy, what did you expect?

but he refused to believe that his eye was dirty. Luckily no other parents were there or I probably would have been reported for having a child with an unexplainable black eye:

you should see the other guy!

Thankfully, diaper wipes work on more than just baby's bum. He was cleaned up in time to make a respectable appearance at the grocery store. Let this be a lesson to parents out there, even a cold grill provides a hazard to your child!

New playground discovered in Odenton!

Since Labor Day is a holiday, many events during the week are pushed back a day. Our recycling and trash pick ups are all delayed (the poor garbage men will have to get our trash on Saturday; it doesn't seem like they really get a day off). Another effected event is new comics day, which is usually on Wednesday, but this week is Thursday. So we went to Annapolis to get some fresh reads for Daddy.

Usually the kids are inclined to fall asleep on the way there (even though it is less than half an hour to the comic shop), so I've been looking for stops along the way to entertain them. There's a library we've gone to a couple of times; sometimes we go early and hang out at the Annapolis Mall playground; we've gone to the  National Cryptologic Museum; we've gone to the National Vigilance Park at Fort Meade. Today, we discovered a hidden playground in Odenton, Maryland, thanks to this list.

The Seven Oaks Community Center Playground is just a stone's throw from Route 175 and Fort Meade. The parking lot enterance looks like it's for a row of townhouses, but off to the left is the community center and pool. Driving up to the pool, careful observation shows the playground on the far side of the pool. After walking around the empty pool (Labor Day is usually the cut off for swimming in these parts, especially weekday day time outdoor swimming), we found the playground. It had a fair amount of equipment,

Jacob loved the merry-go-round til Daddy went too fast

including a ride on plane and bus,

Keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times

Jacob's first school bus ride!

and a swing set!

Lucy's favorite part of any park

The children enjoyed it very much and we had it all to ourselves, presumably because no one knows about it. Hopefully it will stay that way unless some idiot starts blogging about how great it is. We will probably go back again in the future.

Cry Room Chronicles VII

Sorry for having no chronicle last week. Last Sunday was rough because of the kids being very busy during Mass along with their regular friends, Colin and James. The rest of the day was just as busy. My apologies.

Colin and James weren't there this week, so maybe their mom has given birth to number three? Instead, our friends from St. Mary's were there--Luke, Kim and Timmy. Also another mom with two kids and what seemed to be a grandma were there too. This week our children we definitely the worst behaved of the lot.

Jacob wandered around a lot during Mass, chattering mostly to himself and not being too disruptive. He certainly provided bad example to the other kids, except for when we asked him to kneel down. He went one better and laid prostrate on the floor. Otherwise he was taking books off the shelf and giving them to people (not just us) and playing with the blinds, light switches, and volume nob for the overhead speaker. Definitely distracting.

Lucy was much better than Jacob, though she had her moments. Lately she will crawl towards something and then look back at us to see if it's okay. Sometimes I think she knows it's not okay but wants to test us. Like with the electric sockets. We'll have to bring in some outlet covers next week to help baby proof the cry room. She has an awfully cute look on her face when she looks around.

Jacob is definitely learning the parts of the Mass. After the Our Father and Sign of Peace, Jacob was demanding to go up to the church for communion. Not that he wanted to receive communion; he really wanted to put coins in the poor box. Luckily I had my supply with me, so I fed him coins till our turn to get in line. He looked around a lot in church and he's taken to running his hand along the ends of the pews as we return from receiving the Blessed Sacrament.

Father preached about the importance of hospitality today (since the gospel was the story of Mary and Martha hosting Jesus and the first reading was Abraham taking care of the three strangers). Also, he talked about having a balance between work and leisure. It was a quite good sermon.

After Mass, we played on the playground at St. Louis along with Timmy and his parents. A good time was had by all there, though Lucy definitely came away the messiest. We have to teach her to wear shoes!

A fine day out

Jacob spent the morning asking to go to a "new-new playground." The "new playground" is hidden within walking distance of our house but has had lots of Jacob and Lucy visits, so it's probably passe by now. A "new-new playground" is one which we haven't visited before. Angie also made a request this morning for a couple of books from the Savage branch of Howard County's Public Library. This branch has a Friday morning story time (with craft). It seemed like we'd get a lot done this morning if I could find a playground.

Luckily, the internet came through with some surprising suggestions: school playgrounds. Howard County has a lot of schools and now that it's July, school's out for summer. We went to Forrest Ridge Elementary School, drove around back and found the playground. In addition to basketball courts and baseball fields, two wonderful playsets were completely empty and ready for customers. Lucy tried out the slide. After going down, she decided to go the wrong way for a second ride:

 Please note: Lucy's hair was subject to static electricity, not a bad hair day.

Jacob enjoyed playing on the playground, too, even venturing across a difficult bridge with a little help from Daddy. I gave enough help that I couldn't take a picture, so here's a shot of the bridge. You can fill in Daddy and Jacob with your imagination:

He kept his hands on the top two bars and stepped carefully across. The second time I think he would have made it on his own but I wasn't confident enough in him not to be right there holding him.

Lucy took a much safe bridge all by herself:

After all this picture taking, Jacob decided (as he often does) that he wanted to take a picture too. Somehow I was able to limit him to one picture. Naturally, his favorite subject is hanging on the side:

Yes, that is Jacob's cheek and ear on the right and the playground on the left. The sun seems awfully large and close in this picture, but it really wasn't so bad.

Afterwards, we went to the library for books and storytime. We arrived a little early and had to wait outside with some other people. It's nice to live in an area where people are lining up to get into the library! Once inside, we found three books for mommy (two with cake ideas for Regina's birthday and one for fun) and a video for Jacob. Then story time started.

Today's storytime was all about the Fourth of July, featuring stories and songs of patriotism. Then came time for the craft. Again with the patriotic hat!! Jacob had a lot of enthusiasm for making it, using the glue stick to attach the stars. Unfortunately, since Daddy was helping in stead of Mommy, the results were not as good:

Note the paper clip holding the star and pipe cleaner and the terrible taping job inside. This was supposed to be a hat for Lucy (since Jacob already made one for himself), but the measurement was far too large. Lucy wasn't allowed to model it since the structural integrity is weaker than a sandcastle's in a sandstorm. In hind sight, I think it would have been better to use the glue stick on the ribbon and stick the stars into the glue rather than putting the glue on the backs of the stars. Maybe there will be a new craft next week!

Cry Room Chronicles IV

You'd think that a special Father's Day breakfast would delay our Sunday morning routine and force us to go to a Mass later than 8 a.m. Somehow, we arrived two minutes early. I am sure of this because when we walked in Father told the deacon (who was ready to process into the church) that they had two more minutes before starting. That gave us plenty of time to get situated in the Children's Chapel at St. Louis.

The children were fairly well behaved this Sunday. Lucy did get fussy half way through the homily. I heard the beginning where Father discussed how we are always being tested. We see this in this week's gospel, where Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" They reply, "John the Baptist or Elijah or one of the prophets." Jesus follows up with, "Who do you say that I am?" with Peter's reply, "You are the Christ of God." Father then challenged us to consider who Jesus is in our lives. More importantly, how does our faith in Jesus impact our lives and our actions. At this point, Lucy became more of a distraction, so I missed out on the end. But even that much is a good challenge to any Christian believer.

Lucy was also very distracting later on. Our friends with two young boys were with us again. Lucy was sitting near the door and the younger boy (I guess he was one to two years old) took his mom's keys and tried to give them to Lucy. At first, he would lay them on the floor in front of her out of her reach. She just looked at him, doe-eyed. He would pick them up and then lay them closer to her. Eventually he started trying to hand them to her. Lucy kept up the coy act until he practically put the keys in her hands. Both were all smiles at this. We parents thought it was cute too.

We had more than the usual good time at the sign of peace. Among the four adults and four children in the room, I shook hands about nine times. Jacob still sings along with the parts of the Mass and the hymns to the best of his ability.

After Mass was over, we decided to go to the playground on the church's property. Jacob really enjoyed playing there. All sorts of ladders, stairs and climbing rocks led to an upper level with slides and other toys to play with. Jacob liked to run around all over and wanted me to climb up the rock steps with him. I obliged, though I didn't follow him down the slide. Maybe next time.

It was the naughtiest of times, it was the nicest of times...

The week has been full of ups and downs for Jacob.

On Thursday, we went to the playground at the Mall in Columbia so he could get out and run around (it's been rainy here for the past couple of nights, so neighborhood parks have been pretty wet in the mornings). He, Lucy and I went almost right at 10 a.m. when the mall opens, thus there weren't many other children when we got there. Jacob was ecstatic to climb and run all over. I kept Lucy in her car seat (which detaches from the stroller) and I sat on the perimeter bench and cheered on Jacob. He was enjoying himself a little too much on the fruit slide. The slide is a large vinyl slide made to look like a pile of large pieces of fruit. It's about four feet tall and I became really nervous when he started climbing over the top to the steep side where he could fall and hurt himself. Coming to encourage him to get down, Jacob kept telling me to stay with Lucy, i.e. leave him alone. Alas, Lucy did start to get upset, so I went to check on her. After a minute of calming her, I turned around and he was not on the fruit slide anymore.

I looked around and didn't spot him until I saw him climbing the stairs outside of the play area up to the mall's second level. I ran and got him and dragged him back, ignoring his protests. We got back to Lucy and I put him down. He wanted to go back to the stairs, so I grabbed the car seat. Lucy and I followed him, leaving the stroller behind. We walked up the stairs, which I thought was his final destination. Then he started off down the hall, passing store after store. I was afraid he remembered either the pet store (about two thirds of the way down the mall) or the carousel (all the way down the mall). He stopped about half way and decided he was done walking. Which meant that daddy had to carry him in one arm and Lucy in her car seat with the other arm. It was a long walk back.

He made up for his naughtiness at Friday's library story time. Jacob was rather sedate during songs and such as usual. When the scarves came out for peek-a-boo, he actually waited for the lady to come and then get his scarf. He even played peek-a-boo with it just like the lady showed us. When it was time to give them back, he walked up and put it back in the basket. Later, little egg shakers were handed out. Jacob was extra cooperative with that as well. He was even quite polite during the play time with the toys. While he didn't really share any of his toys, he was willing to trade or get a new toy.

After story time was over, Jacob wanted to go upstairs. I told him we couldn't take the stairs because of Lucy's stroller so we'd have to take the elevator. He made a beeline for elevator. We went up and walked around for a bit and then came back downstairs. As we left, Jacob asked for a puzzle. So we walked back in and got a puzzle. He waited patiently on the checkout line. It was a very satisfying trip to the library.

I hope there's more library trips and better mall trips in our future.

Monthly Social

Today saw PATH's monthly social at the Savage Park picnic ground/playground area. Jacob and I went to have a good time with other stay-at-home parents and their children.

It was a new park so I was hoping that Jacob would like to try out new things and maybe some old things that were new variations. This park had nice climbing structures, a couple of fun slides and some swings. Instead of mulch, the ground was covered with this new, soft pseudo-concrete that is all the rage with parks these days. Since PATH was hosting the social, members also brought some fun activities: a kiddie miniature golf set with three holes, a bean bag toss, bubble mix and wands, pinwheels, sidewalk chalk, and a treasure hunt table.

Jacob showed no interest at all in the slides, swings and climbers, just like our local parks. Since there was no mulch to pick up and give to people, he decided to hand out pieces of sidewalk chalk to whoever would take them. Most everyone got one or more pieces (except me, even when I begged for it!). He then discovered the treasure hunt table, which was a toddler-height play table with little toys like plastic rings and little plastic animals buried in bird seed. Most of the kids enjoyed searching through for a little bit. Jacob became a permanent fixture of the table. He didn't so much want to find treasure as to spread around the bird seed wherever he could. I tried to get him away once and he had a little fit. I tried to coax him with food and apple juice but he just let me bring those to him at the table. He had a good time, so I guess I can't blame him.

Finally, he tired of the table and walked back over where the chalk and bubble mix were. Once he got hold of a bubble wand, he did not want to let go. He did manage to get some bubbles to form when he frantically waved it in the air. He also managed to spill the bubble mix all over the concrete border of the playground. Luckily, the other kids didn't get soaked. When I took him away from there, he made it clear that he was ready for his nap by pretending that I was the worst parent for taking him away from the bubble mix. Guilt-trip crying is starting to backfire, though; it's only toughing me up, even though I feel a little ashamed in front of the other parents. Until I realize that they are probably on my side!

Jacob got his nap at home and had a fun afternoon of hanging out in the backyard and playing with Mommy when she got home. He even enjoyed some leftover Guinness beef stew for dinner. Now he is sleeping sweetly, hopefully till late tomorrow morning.