Time to Play

After a morning of church and then telephone conversations with my mom and girlfriends, my kids were climbing the wall. I looked around at the dishes in the sink, the stack of mail on the table, the toys on the living room floor and the unmade beds, and made an executive decision. The housework wasn't going anywhere. Five boy monkeys were going to the park.
We headed out into the sunshine and drove the short distance to their favorite park. We parked and unloaded, one kid would shoot forward, one would lag behind. We picked up and abandoned sticks and rocks.
At the park, I stood watchful as Niky balked at a bridge of wobbly buoy type things. He wouldn't move beyond the first buoy, and Jesse leaped to the ground and held each step steady so that Niky could cross. My heart melted a little at that.
Max, meanwhile, was whooping and running up and down a grassy slope, Alexi working that walker as fast as he could to catch up. I watched for a moment, and then, seeing that all were happy as clams, I charged down the hill myself, caterwauling. We ran and giggled and giggled and ran. Andy, the turtle was slow but in the think of rolling and giggling with glee.
After the climbing structure started to lose its thrill, we moved to the swings. Jesse and Andy pumped their feet until they were soaring way above the midpoint. Max pumped more slowly, but soon he was crowing as his shadow crossed the shadow of the top bar. Alexi worked on his newly found skill of moving his legs enough to make a sway. My youngest sat placidly in a baby swing.
Each time the swings paired up, my kids would yell "You're in my swing!" and laugh uproarously. Finally, they touched down, and after a quick pitstop and round of juice, we started to the van.
My oldest held Niky, and I walked with my Alexi's hand in mine. A moment later, Andy slid his fingers into my other hand, and we ambled along. Andy swung our connected hands, and kissed my cheek.
"I love you sooooo much, Mommy!"
"I love you too."