Wackiness, what else?

This weekend Dan was on call (working 7 am - 3 pm) so I had some quality time with the girls. Amazingly, the weather cooperated and we were able to spend most of our days outside. First thing in the morning, we headed off to a very nice park across from a historical prison which was, very unfortunately, locked! Another woman was waiting with her two children and an older woman came by every 10 minutes or so to commiserate with us that the staff people hadn't unlocked it yet since it was such a nice day, etc. etc. She had quite a bit to say actually but I didn't understand most of it. I am getting good at nodding and smiling. After maybe 30 minutes, we gave up and headed back to the bus stop to find a different park. But, lo and behold, then it was open! So, we trekked on back and had a great time. To the right is a video of the loudest children in the park being just about as loud as they can be.

I should mention that their chant, Rattletrap Car, is a book we have seen on the website onemorestory.com. It's pretty great actually. Classic children's books read aloud and with some music all on line. I think it's $40/year but if you like plopping your kids down in front of something and TV just seems too... um... mindless (Mickey mouse), annoying (D-d-d-d-dora) or violent (Bob L'Eponge), then this is a good option. Plus, as the reader goes, the particular word they are reading turns to a red font so that early readers can begin to recognize words.

We went to two other great parks over the course of the weekend so I may have to officially revise my position on Paris being a better place for kids than Brussels. These parks are fantastic!