Playground

It was a beautiful day in Stuttgart today, sunny and high 50s. I packed up a little snack and the camera and we set off for a little hike. We didn't get too far because a certain member of the group spent a lot of time whining about how he couldn't possibly drag his tired little body another steeeeeeeppppppp!

The pictures are from a nice park that's just outside our main gate. As in Japan, the German parks are...how shall we say? A little less "how can we prevent ourselves from being sued?" and more "use at your own risk". Remember the rusty fire truck at the park in Zushi? Yeah. It was a real truck up on blocks that kids could climb all over. All those rusty, sharp parts. Predictably, Josiah loved it and both he and Annika loved the German park today. They loved it so much that we played for well over an hour, then dragged home and the little people slept for almost three hours.

I think I'll call this park "Mommy's Little Helper Park".

Josiah in the loft of the playhouse

Of course, the woman of the house is busy on the main floor while the man of the house goofs around upstairs...

Apple chair

See what I mean? If this was an American park, the rocks would be made of rubber and have no sharp edges.

Mid-jump.

Dandelion

Hans found Josiah's sunglasses along the road up to one of those castles we visited...they're Ray-Ban Kids and Josiah loves them.

The best that I can describe this apparatus is to say that these logs have spots like stilts--you can step from log to log.

The kids in the "treehouse"