Playgrounds

The weather has finally warmed up here, and we've been able to get outside and play! I cannot tell you how happy this makes the boys.  I mention the words playground, or sandbox and they run to do whatever I ask of them (well, mostly James, but David does whatever James does). There are a number of fun places to play right by our apartment. Behind our apartment is a locked, gated, grassy courtyard area with a sandbox, a bbq grill, a picnic table, and some benches. It's a great place for the kids to run around and let off steam. We played there a bunch yesterday.

In front of our apartment, and across the road is a playground. It is different from a typical American playground. All the structures are wood, and it seems somehow less "safe" than an American playground would be. Actually this one is a bad example, but some of the playgrounds here have really, really tall slides or structures without any railings around at the top.  This playground has a wooden bridge type thing for balancing on, it looks sturdy, but I stood on it and fell off right away it's so wobbly! (you can see behind David in the picture with the slide) Overall though, I like the playgrounds here better, they're more interesting, and I like that they're not "plasticy" and hideous bright colors, they don't detract from the look of the neighborhood. We had a lot of fun playing at the playground today. The boys especially love the little house. It's just they're size and has tiny benches inside they can sit on.