Afternoon Outing at Audobon Center in Columbus

After our lunch and ice cream, we headed over to my aunt and uncle's in order to pick up a few of the newest generation of cousins for an outing to the Grange Insurance Audobon Center and nearby playgrounds and rock climbing sites. It's a bit hard to imagine what was once on this tract of land, or how it was used, but now it's got some state of the art play structures, two small wildlife ponds and a huge rock climbing structure. Pretty neat. We didn't actually go inside the center, but the outside was designed nicely and fit the overall lay of the land quite well. The kids played. I, at some point, after noting how they had the protective flooring that bounces a little, recalled some of the playgrounds I had enjoyed as a youth and just how terribly unsafe much of it was...and said something along the lines of "When we fell, it hurt." But I., the youngest of the three kids, had clear markings on her face that even with the more giving surface, damage could still be done (this was done not on our outing but on one a few days prior).

We saw a range of parenting techniques at play throughout our time on the playground. From wild children wearing no shoes and seemingly under no supervision, to hesitant children with parents basically telling them to man up. The world is a multifaceted place, let me tell you.

Between the three of us, none of our charges were lost or hurt, so that's good.

I also had the opportunity to give the kids a basic duck lesson. Pretty ducks = boys. Dowdy ducks = girls.

In addition to the large rock climbing structure that necessitated ropes and the like, there were some lower little 'rocks' that the kids all took a swing at. They exhibited some monkey-like qualities when it came to going up...but some more recognizable child-like elements when it came to coming down. First A. got a bit on the fringe of weepiness while being helped down by A.

Then K., having just witnessed his sister's ultimate success getting down, also had a bit of a momentary panic. A. did a good job of getting them to do what needed to be done with their feet while also basically acting as a human elevator.

I even climbed up one...but got down without anyone's help, thank goodness. Good times.