philly parks

This playground is on the corner of Terrace St and Hermit St in Manayunk, PA. Elinor's dance school is walking distance from here. On this day we took a trip with a few of her little friends after class for a picnic and play. There isn't too much shade but it is still a great park. The splash pad was so much fun. The girls had a blast running jumping through the water. I also suggest water shoes or keeping your shoes right next to the splash pad. Only because once you walk away from the water, your feet will burn. 

awesome table with checker boards on top and a basketball court that we didn't check out

nice and clean structure, only parts were too hot to slide down

We were sitting in the only bit of shade to eat

one more splash before we left

houston playground

Last week we ventured to Houston Playground. It is fairly close to our house. I'm so surprised no one told us about this spot last summer. I'm so happy I'm finding new playgrounds and fun things to do! 

There are two playgrounds, a toddler/preschooler friendly one and a big kid one. Luckily, the smaller one is in the shade. We walked over to the bigger side but Elinor decided she didn't want to try it out.

Plenty of swings on the smaller playground.

From the smaller playground you can see the splash pad. 

on the other side of the splash pad is the bigger playground. Full sun. Beyond this are baseball fields and basketball courts. Again, we didn't go over that way. There is a summer camp there during the week and I didn't want to disrupt their games.

The water comes on at 12pm. I think it stays on till 9pm and it isn't on during the weekends. Which is a bummer. Elinor had so much much running through the water.

If you are ever around Roxborough, PA check out Houston playground. It's a fun time!

toys at the park

This morning we went to story time, Elinor wasn't too into today, and then the playground. She played forever! Some families had brought balls and a few other toys and all of the kids were playing together. It made me miss playgrounds in Boston. There are almost always toys at the playgrounds there. Tons of sand toys, bikes, cars, balls, sometimes even a walker to stash a younger sibling. It was great! Can we all start doing this now?

from one of our favorite playgrounds in cambridge

We got home a bit ago, ate lunch and right away Elinor laid on the couch. I asked if she was ready for nap and she said yes lay with me. Within seconds she was out!! She rarely is napping anymore so I'm pretty stoked right now. Maybe the warmer weather and all of this outside/playground time will knock her out every afternoon. 

Hope everyone had a great memorial day weekend. We had plans to go to Long Island for the weekend but Elinor had been sick. We held it off until Sunday-Monday, until her fever was gone. It was still an awesome trip. I have a ton of pictures I have to upload and will share soon. 

new york x 2

We had such a busy week last week! We went to NY twice and (Dave) spent a lot of time in our backyard prepping our garden. The first trip was to the Woodbury outlets in NY. Those outlets are insane! Dave loves to go and Elinor and I usually come to just check out the Disney store and play on the playground. What a great idea for a playground to be there?? Dave was able to run around and check out everything he wanted while Elinor and I played. As soon as we got home that night, we realized the Fred Perry sample sale was going on in NYC. So a day later we headed back. We also got to check out the Ghostbusters 30th anniversary art gallery. Dave might have bought a couple of prints. Elinor was nervous of Slimer but loved any ghost she saw.

I've said it before but we love the fact that there is a playground on just about every block in NYC. I always feel bad dragging Elinor around and not letting her have run around crazy play time. Especially after taking two long car rides in one week. She was such a trooper. She was even so well behaved while we went out to eat at Red Bamboo. Sometimes there can be people in there that do not appreciate kids. It probably helped that she was also promised pink ice cream if she ate her meal and didn't run around.

The Ghostbusters gallery was right down the street from the actual firehouse from the movie. Neither of us had ever seen it so we walked over. There weren't many people around so I did a baby grasshopper pose.

The gallery is traveling and still had stops in LA, Chicago and San Diego. Check it out if you are near by. We will be in Chicago when it is there and are planning to go again.

Outside!

I just wrote this post on my phone and then it disappeared! Why is blogging so hard for me lately??

Anyway.... The last 2 days we have been able to spend most the morning/afternoon outside. I can tell a huge difference in both of our moods. We are both less grouchy and throwing less tantrums.

The only problem with this is that Elinor has been doing great on the potty. At home, out running errands and going to museums she will go only on the potty. We have a travel potty to bring out that has a plastic bag with a liner in the bottom to catch the pee and throw away but it is still a little too chilly for her to go outside. It is also hard to set the potty up without just being in the middle of the playground. With Dorie, we would go behind a bush or tree but we are lacking some greenery right now. She was able to hold it the whole time both days but I would like for her to have the option to go. Why can't there be bathrooms at every playground??
I hope it stays nice out and leaves start to come back. This little girl loves being outside!

playground at the beach

It finally warmed up last week a bit. We walked to the beach which is not even 10 minutes away. Elinor waved to every person we waked by. The second we got to the beach she threw her arms up and started yelling "up, help!". I put her up on the wall to watch the waves. She loved watching them until she realized we were up high. Once I put my arm across her belly she went back to starring at the waves and waving to the seagulls. We walked a little bit until she saw an opening to the beach. She took off! If I didn't stop her she would have jumped in. We chased each other for awhile until I could barely keep her away from the water and headed to the playground. Kids were leaving when we walked in. I felt bad because she was so excited when we saw them. She still had fun climbing, swinging and sliding. 

We stopped by to wave to the ocean one more time before walking back home. Once I said "let's go home, back in the stroller" She had a meltdown. Don't worry Ellie, soon it will be warmer all the time and we can come back everyday.