Here are a few photos of the kids out and about in the grassy area in front of our building. There is no shortage of kids in our neighborhood and the boys have made some good friends. There is a sidewalk along our grassy quad that the kids love to ride their bikes and scooters on but there are plenty of other things to keep them busy while we're outside. The boys spend the majority of their time at the rope swing near our building. There is a plastic climbing structure under it and they spend endless hours there. Samuel has not yet figured out how to swing on the rope swing by himself... but I'm sure it's only a matter of time (and courage!)
We also have a water table and a sand table that attract many of the kids in the neighborhood. And the nice thing about those activities are that Grace enjoys them just as much as the bigger kids.
The bad thing is that we've already gone through four 50 pound bags of sand! There are also a couple of playgrounds close to our building which we frequent often.
Our community also offers a fair amount of shade which is nice. But one thing about living near older trees is that there are sticks everywhere! And it only takes a good rainstorm (which there are plenty here) for there to be all kinds of NEW sticks in the yard. The boys LOVE sticks. At first I made an effort to keep them from playing with them. "You'll poke your eye out..." comes to mind when I see kids with sticks. But there is really no stopping it around here. All the kids play with sticks... one day they're swords the next they're magic wands or axes or guns or whatever their lil imaginations decide they are. I grew up in an area without any mature trees, and we've previously lived in neighborhoods with very few mature trees. So, this whole fascination with sticks is new to me. But I think I may have come to terms with the fact that they are boys and they are going to play with sticks whether that excites me or not.
Our neighborhood is fenced in and gated and we generally feel safe in our lil community. Everyone knows everyone and usually there is at least one Mom out there with the kids... if not more. I tend to be outside a lot with the kids especially now that Grace is running all over the place. It seems like there is a lot less mischief for her to get into outside than inside!
Overall, I think the community where we live is somewhat of a kids' paradise for the lil ones.
