Keeping up with Kaity

Thursday, May 23:  It takes a LOT to keep up with Kaity. She is a bundle of energy, motion, ideas, desires, etc. I'm so thankful that the morning rain had stopped and by the time I picked Kaity up from school, it was nice enough to take her to a brand new playground! Well, it's not NEW, it's just new to us! We plugged the address into my WAZE app (a friend helped me install this app) and away we went to Millennium Park!

We ended up having a few problems with the directions, but we finally made it. Kaity just about flipped out at this playground! She LOVES a good playground, and her special love is MONKEYBARS ... because she is certainly part monkey! 

 This playground was monkeybar haven for sure ...

 There are lots of small lakes out here, along with a nice beach area for summer swimming. I'm looking forward to trying it out with Kaity and the other grandkiddos very soon.

 "We should go fishing, grandma!" I explained the thing about the fishing license, fishing poles, bait, etc. It went right past Kaity's head ...

 Kaity has super strong arms and she is VERY tough and almost fearless when it comes to climbing and stretching and jumping and running ... she is something.

 We met a 7-year-old boy by the name of Arthur. He explained that he was named after a King, just like all of his brothers (he has 5 brothers and 1 sister). He was super friendly and hung out with us, following us from monkeybars to swings, etc. 

 This is Arthur, pushing Kaity on the tire swing. He tried to get on with her, but he just wasn't able to do it. Kaity took her turn, and then we helped King Arthur onto the swing, along with his little brother, King Stephen. !! They also have a King Richard for an older brother, and their baby sister (she is only a year) is named after Queen Elizabeth. Interesting. I will say, though, these boys were very nice to play with--talkative and kind. It was fun to meet them.

 We played for about one hour, and then we had to move on ...

 Our next stop was at Meijer--the garden shop--because I needed more dirt for my annuals. We picked up a special shovel for Kaity too, even though she really really REALLY wanted a toy. I try tell Kaity that she just cannot have a new toy every time we go to the store! She seems very offended that this is the case!

 When we got to my house, Kaity immediately got the tracks out and began building a layout. She requested the City Lego people and some of their stuff so that we could include them in our fun. Kaity is full of fun ideas.

We played for quite a long time with all of this stuff, which is such a relief when Kaity actually focuses on something for more than 3 seconds! 

After we ate our meal, we went outside with our garden gloves and dirt where we added dirt to all of my pots. Kaity was a very good helper with this project! Thank you, Kaity!

THEN, we got out the mini-soccer ball and played a game of soccer out in the street. It was so much fun! Our final score was 5 to 4! A close game, but Kaity was the winner (because she kind of cheated, switching courts and then also switching scores!). Since I am absolutely without any competitive drive whatsoever, this was just fine with me! Kaity gave me many heart-felt hugs throughout our time together. I love her so much. Precious and darling little granddaughter.