Fun at All Ages

Most of you probably know that I really enjoy babies, toddlers, and preschoolers.  Pretty much any kiddo under school age is in my favorite age range.  But, I am coming to realize there are some lovely traits about my soon to be school-ager and other kiddos around his age. 

Last Thursday, Luke and I spent the day with my niece and nephew, Annie (9) and Ethan (turning 5 next week).  We didn't have anything major planned, but we ended up having a really fun day together!  The kids got to our house around 8:30am.  I told them they could play while I took a shower.  And play they did!  They went right at the toys downstairs and created some imaginary world that kept them busy beyond my shower and getting completely ready for the day.  I finally asked them if they were ready to go to the parks by our house, even though I was hesitant to interrupt their imaginary world:)  We have two nice parks within walking distance of our house, so we hit them both which was especially fun because one is geared for older kids since it's at the elementary school.  Good times were had by all.

Once back to the house, we had lunch and the kids wanted to cool off in the house for a while (it was quite warm and humid even before lunch).  They went downstairs to play while I cleaned up lunch and before I knew it, they were back in their imaginary world.  This time I think it evolved into a game of school where Annie was the teacher and Luke and Ethan were the students.  Their school day consisted of quiet time, doing papers, and doing flash cards.  Annie set up two rooms downstairs as their school.  They entertained themselves for over an hour again!  And, again, I hesitated to interrupt them, but asked if they wanted to play in the pool and slip-n-slide in the backyard.  They agreed saying it was part of their "school day" that they got to play games:)  Once outside, their ingenuity continued and they started making soup out of the pool water with grass clippings and sand. 

After a while outside, we came in for a snack.  They decided that they should have game time for "school" inside, so they decided to play a board game.  The dreaded Mouse Trap came out.  I thought to myself...I really don't want to put this entire game together and read the instructions because it really doesn't even seem like much of a game to me.  But, before I could share my opinion out loud, Annie said she could read the instructions and help the boys set it up.  Sounded perfect to me!  They entertained themselves for over a half hour playing when they decided to play Sorry and asked if I would play too.  Of course I would:)  At this point in my life as a mommy, I feel a little incomplete without my daily game of Sorry...it's one of Luke's favorites right now.

And that rounded out our day...a lovely day with Annie, Ethan, and Luke:) 

Back to my original thoughts...I'm really enjoying the imagination that comes with the 5-10 year old range.  It is so fun to see their creativity in working together to create an imaginary world.  I'm also enjoying how incredibly well they play together.  No more needing to intervene because someone is not sharing or someone is crying or throwing a fit.  Ok, maybe not "no more" but far less often than the toddler years and they work out their issues better on their own now.  I'm also enjoying being able to share experiences with the kids.  They understand and anticipate things so much more and it's so fun to experience their excitement together. 

I am also grateful that in the midst of their maturing personalities and ever growing statures, that these sweet kids are still willing and even want to hold my hand while we walk to the park:) 

Check out some pictures from our fun day together...

Ethan doing his favorite thing at the park: monkey bars

Annie found her favorite thing too, it's like a mini merry-go-round

The boys checking out some pictures under the climbing wall at the park

Playing with the hose while we filled up the pool.  And yes, they are shooting the hose down each others trunks.  They thought it was hilarious and took turns shooting each other and shrieking from the cold:)

Playing Mouse Trap together sans adults:)