With both boys home for the summer, I'm trying some new things for playdates. Baylor's little buddy, Landon, has an older brother, Ryan, that is Jax's age. So my friend, Alaina, and I thought it would be fun to get all the boys together for a playdate at the local skate park. Ryan has been skateboarding for a while now, and I thought it might finally be time for me to ease up on my "hell no attitude" towards the idea of my boys and skateboards. I mean, I had one growing up, and I managed to never break a bone. Surely the same is possible for my kids!
Jax gave me a "who are you and what have you done with my mommy?" look when I took him to the store and had him select his first skateboard. Along with the skateboard, we picked out a cool helmet and pads to protect his knees, elbows, and wrists. After examining all of the gear, Anh asked, "Is all of this necessary? Do the other kids wear all of this stuff?" My response, "I don't care about the other kids. If Jax wants to skateboard, he'll wear it...all of it!"
Once at the park, I was in for a shock. Jax isn't quite the daredevil he once was. I guess that's what happens when you get hurt a few times. You start to proceed with a bit of caution. Baylor, however, hasn't learned those tough lessons quite yet. Nope, he's still in Evil Knievel mode. He hurled himself down the ramps on the scooter he inherited from his brother. Who needs a scooter when you now have a skateboard? I nearly had a heart attack as I watched barely 2-year old Baylor fly down the ramp without any pads or a helmet! Thank goodness he survived the plunge intact, but he was not very happy with me when I dragged him outside of the fence surrounding the skate area and refused to allow him to return. Yeah, I suck! Whatever! Maybe when you're five, we'll talk. It depends on Jax's injury report.
In addition to the stressful skateboard outings, we've started meeting Baylor's friend, Ethan, at our neighborhood pool. Sure, we could just hang out in the backyard, but this way it feels like we're actually doing something. Effort is required to get there. Although, it is minimal which makes it an ideal scenario.
Here you can see that Jax has done little to improve his sliding technique from last summer. He's tall enough now that you don't have to catch him at the bottom, but he's still such a light-weight that the force of the slide's current causes him to flip over on to his belly which sends him into the water backwards. Oh well! It's still fun!
Baylor and Ethan still don't really play together. It's more like playing near each other. I guess as they get closer to 3, there might be more interaction.
They did, however, share a few giggles over the fact that they already attract the attention of the ladies at the pool...much older ladies! Lord, help us when their preteens or even worse teenagers!
However, all eyes were on another little boy's toy dump truck. Of course! You always want what you can't have. At one point, our three boys appeared to be plotting a truck-jacking. The potential victim must have sensed the danger because he quickly called it a day and high-tailed it out of there. Wise decision!
With the temptation removed from the equation, the boys went back to playing in the water, and the moms returned to swapping terrible twos horror stories. There's certainly no shortage of dirt to dish. Our boys are feisty and creative! Ironically, they behave the most when they're together. Just another reason/excuse to keep scheduling the playdates.
The only downside to the day was that we weren't able to venture down to the beach. The lifeguards were flying the red flag due to rough surf and a strong undertow. So, we decided not to risk our luck and stayed clear of the water. However, the conditions seemed to attract every surfer on the island which served as a nice sideshow for the moms. The boys didn't seem that impressed. They're a tough crowd!
Baylor and I ended up calling it a day relatively early thanks to his sour attitude. He was exhausted, but didn't recognize that fact. Instead, he blamed his bad mood on me packing completely unacceptable snacks and toys. I knew the real problem though, the fact that he had been up since 6AM! He was passed out in his car seat before we hit the mainland, and that my friends is yet another sign of a successful playdate. Total & complete exhaustion of the 2-year old is a good thing!
The park was packed! I guess that's to be expected with intense Florida heat. Thankfully, Baylor had enough toys to share with all of his buddies and a few strangers. We even ended up leaving behind a few items that the other children weren't so eager to return. At this rate, visits to the free park could get kind of expensive.
Here's the look I got when I tried to coax Baylor from the fountain. He wasn't thrilled with the idea of leaving. He didn't understand that I only wanted to check out the beach for a bit. So, we lingered for a while longer.
Eventually, I was able to clearly communicate my plan for a walk on the beach and to splash in the waves. Confident that the fun wasn't coming to an end, Baylor agreed to accompany me down to the sand. However, he was a little uneasy about entering the water. During our last 
Very quickly, my little man was back to his usual dare devil self. His smile is what convinced me that we needed to schedule another 
