Swing

It's a crime to stay inside on such a gorgeous September day. Kids were thrilled when we brought them to this brand new park in Richmond, and they got even more excited bumping into their lil boyfriends there.

Everything in this playground is nature-inspired. It's such a treat to be playing on play structures made of wood as opposed to the hair-raising (literally!) plastic. Then there is this 3-storey high spiral slide that attracted a long line-up. To get up to the slide, one must enter the very core of the tower and climb up the intricate web from within. Many kids freaked and decided they want out after a few climbs, which created the bottleneck as other kids tried to make their way up.

I endured the lineup to allow the girls a run on the giant slide. OO got up to the first level, got scared and aborted her mission. I stayed in there to help little A, but apparently she was also fearless in addition to being small and nimble. She swiftly made her way up to the slide level while her poor mom was still stuck in the torture chamber, her pony tail being stepped on and her arm hurting from a rope burn. Before I could even reach her level, little A had already hopped into the slide and merrily descended. Guess I didn't need to "help" her after all.

OO learned that little A, 24 months her junior, did it all without flinching. She was determined to give it another go and vowed not to give up. So back in the lineup I went. This time, she made it to just one level below the slide level before she went berserk. By this time, little A had already surpassed OO and was gleefully smiling down at us from above. OO insisted that she's had enough and that she wanted OUT, despite that it was obviously more difficult to go back down than to climb one more level up. I tried so hard to encourage her but she just froze there. Finally, a couple of older boys who followed us up reassured OO that she was doing great, and that she was *that* close to making it. I don't know what it was, but finally OO listened and climbed a few more rungs up and made it.

SHE MADE IT!!!!!!!!!

I had no idea I would be this proud when she overcame her fear and got up to the very top.