In October we decided to have our book club meeting at Live Oak Park in Berkeley/Albany I wasn't a fan of this idea, worried that I would spend the entire time chasing my little gremlin around rather then discussing the book.
But for this particular month, I actually hadn't read The book in questions, as I had been out of town in New York just before, and preparing for my trip prior to that. So it was an OK Experiment for me.
To be honest it worked out much better then I expected. There was a lot of chasing, but the park was small and enclosed by a fence so she could not escape. Much of the time she was playing in safe areas and I could easily converse.
Since we were set up next to the climbing structure it was easy to hear the conversation while still watching that Holly didn't try and climb off of the edge, and easy to help her go down the slide.
Here she is making friends with one of the other littler babies in attendance, and secretly I think she is trying to steal it's snacks. One of the other mom's brought cantaloupe which was yummy and she had some of that too.
Here is little Miss Madelyn enjoying her snack as well. Some of the time the kids would sit with us in our little circle listening to us talk, then later they would run and play and explore.
Holly's sand toys were a hit. Not only did they keep her busy, but the other kids enjoyed them too, and soon they were scattered all over the park, but that gave her a chance to run and find them and stack them all up together.
There were even a few times when she sat near the group and stirred sand in her bucket and filled it up and dumped it out, which really gave me a chance to pay attention, even though I hadn't read the book, I was interested in the discussion.
That would give me a chance to decide if it was something worth reading and buying later on. Here are Holly and Madelyn sitting on the See-Saw with some older kids. It was nice of them to share with the little ones.
Later they tried to do it on there own, but weren't able to reach the ground so they had Naomi help them and they sat close together facing each other. They had a lot of fun and rocked back and forth just a little.
Here is David and his Mommy playing in the Sand. The book for this month was Our babies, our Selves. It was a very anthropological book discussing different parenting styles all around the world, and how our culture influences our parenting.
For the most part though the group was disappointed, many new of the author previously and she had a very interesting personal story which she mostly excluded from the context of the book, which they though would have helped make it more personal.
All in all we had a lot of fun playing and talking. I have really enjoyed book club. I am glad it is cooler weather and we are back to meeting in the home, in fact I am hosting for December, and this time I am reading the book. Ah, I guess I should also rate this park:
Slides - 1 - There was a fun slide Holly could do holding my hand.
Swings - 1 - Yes there were baby slides on the far side of the park
Surface - 1/2 - Sand, but it wasn't the cleanest, it was the dirt sand
Shade - 1/2 - There was a little bit of shade where we were sitting under a tree but most of the park was very hot and sunny.
Climbing - 1 - The play structure was fun t climb and the See Saw was also fun.
Parking - 1 - Street parking in front of the park.
Bathrooms - 1/2 - There was a community center with a bathroom inside, but these are only open certain hours.
Distance - 1 - Less then 10 minutes from the house.
Friends - 1 - Well our book club friends were there, and while at the park two or three other groups of kids came for a little while.
Fun - 1- We had fun at this park.
Here she is making friends with one of the other littler babies in attendance, and secretly I think she is trying to steal it's snacks. One of the other mom's brought cantaloupe which was yummy and she had some of that too.
Here is little Miss Madelyn enjoying her snack as well. Some of the time the kids would sit with us in our little circle listening to us talk, then later they would run and play and explore.
Holly's sand toys were a hit. Not only did they keep her busy, but the other kids enjoyed them too, and soon they were scattered all over the park, but that gave her a chance to run and find them and stack them all up together.
There were even a few times when she sat near the group and stirred sand in her bucket and filled it up and dumped it out, which really gave me a chance to pay attention, even though I hadn't read the book, I was interested in the discussion.
That would give me a chance to decide if it was something worth reading and buying later on. Here are Holly and Madelyn sitting on the See-Saw with some older kids. It was nice of them to share with the little ones.
Later they tried to do it on there own, but weren't able to reach the ground so they had Naomi help them and they sat close together facing each other. They had a lot of fun and rocked back and forth just a little.
Here is David and his Mommy playing in the Sand. The book for this month was Our babies, our Selves. It was a very anthropological book discussing different parenting styles all around the world, and how our culture influences our parenting.
For the most part though the group was disappointed, many new of the author previously and she had a very interesting personal story which she mostly excluded from the context of the book, which they though would have helped make it more personal.
All in all we had a lot of fun playing and talking. I have really enjoyed book club. I am glad it is cooler weather and we are back to meeting in the home, in fact I am hosting for December, and this time I am reading the book. Ah, I guess I should also rate this park:Slides - 1 - There was a fun slide Holly could do holding my hand.
Swings - 1 - Yes there were baby slides on the far side of the park
Surface - 1/2 - Sand, but it wasn't the cleanest, it was the dirt sand
Shade - 1/2 - There was a little bit of shade where we were sitting under a tree but most of the park was very hot and sunny.
Climbing - 1 - The play structure was fun t climb and the See Saw was also fun.
Parking - 1 - Street parking in front of the park.
Bathrooms - 1/2 - There was a community center with a bathroom inside, but these are only open certain hours.
Distance - 1 - Less then 10 minutes from the house.
Friends - 1 - Well our book club friends were there, and while at the park two or three other groups of kids came for a little while.
Fun - 1- We had fun at this park.
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2 comments:
I'm curious about what the book choice was, and if you think you'll read it...Y'all should do a kid's book some time, where everyone brings their favorite kid's book! Holly as always is the diva of the playground. She looks so confident and at home!
Love, Granny
That seesaw looks so fun, I love the double seats, what a great idea. This park is neat and colourful, I love how you provided all the toys, very thoughtful. I've not seen any sand parks over here, how do you keep the cats out? Lol x
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