Arbor Day Celebration

Saturday we went to the Woodlands' Arbor Day Celebration. The boys were chomping at the bit to check out the festivities so despite parking in the boonies at Creekside they walked/ran all the way to the park.


When we crested the hill on the other side of the pond the bright colors of the row of jump houses came into view. Wow. So many places to jump - so little time.




And jump they did. Bounce, fall, do it again. Tossed here and there by the bigger kids jumping. But it didn't matter to them. They thought it was the best thing ever.

And then they discovered the slide. Connor's first trip up was rough, fraught with set backs and minor spills, but by sheer determination he made it to the top and gleefully slid on down and got in line to do it all over again.

After they tuckered me out watching them jump and bounce, run, and climb time and time again we finally plucked them out and sent them on to see what other amusements the afternoon offered. Ryan spotted the dog from quite aways away and chased him down. Though he wasn't quite sure what to do when he finally caught up with up. He checked him out from a distance, but refused to get too close. Connor wasn't even braver, today.

Before long we found the hula hoops, and though we didn't use them for their intended purposes the boys had a good time playing with them.

While Connor and daddy played with the hoola-hoop some more Ryan and wandered over closer to the stage to hear the live music. Ryan danced along.

Then venturing further down we found the normal park playground with its long twisty green slide. Ryan eagerly climbed the stairs to get to the top. And I was shocked. He trucked right on up the stairs standing, not holding on to a thing. He has conquered stairs a million times, but never before like that. Generally they both crawl, or once in a while Ryan will walk the stairs holding on the hand rail. But this time he walked right up the middle all by himself while I alternately cheered him on, and held my breath. :)

Eventually we found the concessions. The boys enjoyed hotdogs while I ate a frito pie. With our tummies full and the boys batteries recharged by the 5 minute break we made our way to the petting zoo. While the boys enjoy looking at animals, seeing them up close and personal is a whole other matter. They both held on for dear life.

Connor did eventually get brave enough to give the tiny little pig a pat or two. They also had pony rides, but the line was fairly long and given the boys' reluctance to see the animals in the petting zoo up close we thought we should probably pass.

We walked by the sparring robots. They were actually pretty neat to watch. Inside each one is a seat and set of controls to make them move and control their arms.

Ryan also checked out the firetruck from afar. He wasn't too sure what to make of the girl on the bouncy stilts so he kept his distance.

As we made our way back to the field Puffy the Pinecone's birthday celebration was just getting underway. He was joined by a whole slew of mascots.

With every one's attention shifting to the birthday celebration the jump houses were practically vacant. So we let the boys run though them again for a little while and even hit up the ball pit on our way out. Ryan was having so much furn that we eventually had to reach in and pull him out by his feet.

As it was well past nap time we started the 10 mile trek back to the car. Though obviously exhausted the boys still chose to walk by themselves most of the way. After a quick round of snacks and diapers we loaded everything back up into car. They were asleep before we even made it the short distance out of the parking lot.