Buggin' Out at the playground

This past week, I was able to take Koko Bean to the little park by our apartments. Korbin loves to swing, slide, jump and run. It is the perfect place for her because she is able to expend all her energy and even though I love to jump in a play too, there are times where I'm just an admirer from afar. How can one little being have THAT MUCH energy????

Usually, we have to leave the playground while she is screaming and kicking saying, "No MOMMY!! I wanna fwing!!" We've made it a tradition to go to the nearby Sonic, Korbin gets a small cherry limeade and a small popcorn chicken, and Mommy gets a big diet cherry limeade. I made an attempt at conversation with Korbin on the drive over to the playground while she munched on the chicken. I said, "Now munchkin, when it's time to leave, it's time to leave. Do no make a scene and do not cry. If you do, we won't come back." Typical conversation with a two-year-old usually looks like this...

followed by "Okay Mommy."

Shortly after the forewarning, we arrived at the playground. Man, was she pumped!!

She got to swing, run, and slide just as promised.

At this particular playground, there are two sets of equipment- one for smaller kids and one for the bigger kids. Koko Bean prefers the one for the big kids which scares me because there are lot of open spaces and a bridge for her to cross. My heart alwasys skips a beat and I find myself sprinting to relocate myself incase of a fall.

This particular evening out, Korbin ventured over to the little kids' equipment. She found it easier to step up on the steps and started to sit down to slide when all of a sudden she looked up and pointed. Then made a face like she saw a ghost. I turned around and didn't see anything and asked her what was wrong. Then she pretended to eat something from the air. (This is a new thing for her. She pretends to eat a lot of things, Grandma's easter egg lights that hang off her fireplace and Daddy's nose. Then she will "spit them back out" in your hand. Odd? Yes. Hilarious? Definitely.)

Finally I turned around again and saw a small swarm of gnats flying around about 2 feet from my head. I asked Korbin if she was eating the bugs and she nodded. I said, "Ew Korbin, don't eat bugs," jokingly because I knew she hadn't actually eaten them. Then I got this face.

I don't know if it was me raining on her bug-eating parade or the actual bugs that upset her so badly, but she was upset. She was so terrified that she made me hold her and when we went over to the other side to the big kids' equipment, she clung to me like a little spider monkey. Finally I got her down and she started up the stairs to slide, but not without caution.

Still, that moment was engrained in her sweet little mind. Her little bubble had burst.

She just couldn't take it. I asked her if she wanted to go to Wal-Mart with Mommy to help her grocery shop and she stuck her little bottom lip out and nodded. Needless to say, we didn't have to leave the playground kicking and screaming this time. She was fully ready to leave the gnat-infested environment. Now, when we were at Wal-Mart, we walk down the candy aisle.... let's just say, the bugs love candy.....until she's able to outsmart me again. :)