Playing Outside at McHugh

We had a summer full of amazing weather, excepting a few icky spots here and there. I actually got to a point, after several weeks of cloudless, sunny, hot weather, when I WANTED it to get cloudy and rainy - I live in Alaska and NOT Arizona for a reason! Really, we couldn't have asked for a better summer and fall in which to live in an RV in a state park.

Our site, for better or worse, was asphalt surrounded by grasses and other plants. Early in the summer when Tallis was just starting to crawl and was still afraid of grass (weird prickly stuff!) we used a big area rug outside as a play space.

But Tallis had no qualms about crawling on asphalt - we couldn't keep him in one spot. The area rug didn't get used for long. Next was a big alphabet foam pad that was a bit more interesting, but still not worth staying put on. Once he got mobile enough to get himself into trouble around the site, we got a fenced play yard, but that only held him for 5 minutes before it wasn't the "play yard", it was a "cage" - and he wanted out! So most of the time it was just asphalt and a watchful eye as we played outside near the RV. (Have to admit that I LOVED putting him in overalls - both for the durability AND for the ability to pick him up one-handed by his straps as he crawled toward something off-limits!)

Here you see that early spring is just breaking, and Tallis is helping with parking lot surveillance. During the day when I would go out around the area between naps I'd take Tallis with me, sometimes in my arms, sometimes in the back carrier and sometimes in the stroller, and he'd be the "unofficial park greeter." Seeing a cute baby sure makes people smile! He would often accompany us down the hill to close the gate in the evenings and on Sunday mornings I'd often take him down for gate duty as well. Courtney was better than I at getting Tallis out and about - they spent a lot of time out of doors on evenings and weekends.

What a cool play space, huh? Sticks and leaves and rocks and bugs and a beautiful view. (Good thing Tallis isn't much for putting non-food items in his mouth!)

He also enjoyed the couple of times I took him over to the creek and let him splash around in the shallow eddies, but once he got so excited about it he crawled into the water and plopped right down on his behind (about 1-2 inches deep) - the excitement only lasted until the water soaked his diaper and he decided that the snowy runoff water was COLD! Good thing home and dry clothes were just up the hill!

During the hot, sunny spell I mentioned at the beginning, Tallis decided that wearing his sunglasses wasn't torturous after all. Isn't he such a Joe Cool?


Cruising the pad.



And finally, I have a short video taken on a fun and beautiful day while we played "soccer" near the RV, with the lupine blooming and the sun shining. But I'm having trouble uploading it. Maybe I'll try again later....