The Playground Police

So, those of you with preschool age kids understand how during Spring Break and Summer vacations, it is a pain how all the "big kids" take over the local playgrounds.  By "big kids" I mean 10-12 year olds.  They just play differently on the equipment.  It is a whole different energy.  Whatever, it's fine.  It's a free country, they can do whatever they want.  It has never really been an issue until this past Wednesday.  This past Wednesday, my 2 friends and I plus our 8 children were introduced to the the PLAYGROUND POLICE.

Okay, they weren't ninjas, but they might as have been because they came out of no where!  

Let me set the scene:

The kids were all playing, the moms were chatting (all while supervising closely of course) and it was a great day.  We were talking about how much we enjoyed this particular park and how the kids were all getting along so great.  Perfect spring day in suburban PA.  

Out of the corner of my eye, I see a red minivan pull up.  Suddenly at least 8 boys ranging in ages from maybe 8-11 jump out and start charging the equipment.  They all have these Nerf gun things and they are yelling "WE'RE THE PLAYGROUND POLICE!!!"

That is when we look over and see that the minivan is LEAVING!!!  Whoever was driving was getting the hell out of dodge and leaving these crazed kids alone to terrorize the playground.  

I really wish I could have taken video of the whole thing because it was hysterical.  I look up and see that a 2 year old from our group is up on the highest level of the equipment, and I yell and point "Oh No!!  Someone has to get her!"  like a damsel in distress.  Her mom starts cussing, and I spring into action.  My 6.5 month pregnant self runs across the playground and up the equipment like I am freaking Wonder Woman or something to grab this child who looks at me like "WTF is your deal?"

We gather all the children together and start talking about how we are going to go to a different playground. That's when the "playground police" start mocking us.  "We're going to go to the purple playground" they say in a sing-songy voice.

Punks.

We're walking out and Emily looks at me with her hands thrown up in disgust and says "They called us LITTLE kids" She was appalled.  

As we are making our way through the police one yells "sucks to be you-we're the playground police!"

It was sort of one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed.  I am sure my story telling skills aren't giving you the best picture of it, but it was chaos.  These kids looked like a combo of the Goonies and a younger version of Big Time Rush.  I guess that is the look neighborhood tween gangs go for now.  It was insanity.  Craziness.

Next time I am going to pack an arsenal of water balloons so that I can at least be prepared for an attack against "the fuzz" again.

Spring Fever

We have some major spring fever around here! This has officially been the longest winter of our lives. Well, I'm sure I had long winters in West Virginia, but I don't really remember them. We have been pretty much house bound since November. We have had a couple of nice days here and there, but they usually follow a downpour, so it's been too wet to go outside and really enjoy the weather. That changed on Sunday! We all had a great time -Ben cleaned the garage, I cleaned the car, the girls decorated our sidewalk with chalk. Then we headed to the backyard and played on the swing set. We decided to have a little picnic before we had to head inside for nap time.

Allie has decided that she is terrified of swings this year. She is however a big fan of the slide. She thinks she is big stuff now because she can climb up the ladder by herself!



We decided since it was such a pretty day, that we would dye our Easter eggs outside. I got some marbled kits (you mix vegetable oil in the dye--we won't be doing those again--they were slippery little things! Not really conducive to a 3 year old and a 2 year old!), and a sparkly and glittery kit. That one was a lot of fun.


The Sparkle eggs aren't your standard dye kit. Instead, you paint them and then dust them with glitter. So girly and perfect for our girls!

A certain someone thought that she needed a sparkly and glittery hand to go along with the eggs! Clearly, the tradition of the family has been passed down to her..."Accessorize, accessorize, accessorize!"

We are very proud of our eggs. They are now sitting in a pretty nest of yellow Easter grass as the centerpiece of our kitchen table.

It looks like another rainy week is in store for us, but we can make it another 7 days with our memories of smiles...

and bubbles....

and sunshine!