Sunday, October 11, 2009

How we spent our Sunday

As usual we frustrated our children today. We drove out to Oma's Pumpkin Patch for some good 'ole hay- riding, pumpkin picking, and maze running, only to find out that it is closed on Sundays. Amelia cried --a lot. She got over it when we drove past the coolest park in the world. Not only did it have a tire swing, but it also had a see-saw, a trampoline built into the ground, a merry-go-round, and some bad-ass zebra bouncy thing.

"Do you think it's a public park?" Aaron and I both wondered aloud since most of the stuff was straight out of the early 80's, the kind of playground equipment that schools no longer have due to insurance issues. We decided that it had to be public. There was a large gravel area that resembled a parking lot. We parked our car amongst the tiny white pebbles and proceeded to have the most awesome time the five of us have had in months, maybe even years (that could be an exaggeration, after all i rented Beatles Rock Band this weekend which is ahh-some!).

The trampoline was a hit, Aaron taught the boys all sorts of terribly dangerous games like don't break the egg and the double bounce. He has a pretty knarly scar on his forehead from a childhood trampoline trick gone wrong. This trampoline was moderately safe due to the fact that it was built into the ground. There was no blood, thankfully!

I was the most thrilled over the see-saw. I still remember the devastation I felt as a child when they started removing see-saws from local parks. At age six, they were my playground equipment of choice . Unfortunately there is no comfortable way for a thirty-year-old woman to play on a see-saw. It just doesn't work. I attempted to see-saw with Amelia but I have a good 80 pounds on her so it was pretty much a waste of time. The boys, however, see-sawed their little hearts out.
About a half an hour into our visit to the greatest park in the world, a car drove by slowly, rolled down the window, and appeared to really want to talk to us. After a minute or so they drove away. Weird, I thought.

Fifteen minutes later another car rolls up. I realize that more likely then not we are not playing at a public park. "Hey , hate to bother you but his is our backyard." says the polite man in the car. "we built the playground for our grand kids. We've always joked that someday someone would mistake it for a real park."

"Are we the only ones who have?" I ask

"yep!" he laughs

We compliment him on the amazing park he has created and politely make our exit. I scrawled down their address and plan on sending them a thank you/apology letter. We are dumb asses!





Trying to figure out waht's under the trampoline







3 comments:

archshrk said...

That's what I love about you guys. I would never have taken the chance that it wasn't public and risk angering some hill-billy clan of mountain men who use it as a militia training camp. And yes, the bad-ass zebra bouncy thing could be used to train the militia's zebra assault team.

Amelia said...

You're hysterical! It was in Lakeside so it very well could have been for a militia.

julia@photojulia,com said...

I am still laughing!!! Siobhan, you crack me up! HA!