Rumble in the Jungle

The neighborhoods around us have some small, pocket parks, but most don't have play equipment.  The ones that do require getting in the car and driving to them.  (Miss you, Candler Park!)  The upside of driving to Groenkloof Nature Reserve (see Hike around the 'Kloof), about 10 min. away, is that not only are there play structures, but sometimes you spot zebra and giraffe, or at least a few springbok.  (Gets me every time.)

After noticing that Lucy was getting antsy when she came home from school, we decided to bite the bullet and buy a jungle gym for the backyard.   With much anticipation, the delivery day arrived! 

The challenge was getting it into the yard.  The jungle gyms here are steel and come in one piece.  Our first attempt, carrying it over the gate, didn't quite work as planned.

 Try #2. 
They carried it around the side of the house. 

Ta da! 

Lucy decided to celebrate with a tea party up in the "Club House".  Everyone was invited (except me and Noah).

Noah was afraid of the swing at first, but quickly got the hang of it. 
(When they say "comes with a tire swing," they weren't kidding.)

Noah tries to explain the centripetal force involved in the swing motion.

Big Sis likes pushing her lil'brother, though sometimes we have to chat about taking it slow and "the swing is a not a rocket launcher."

It's a hit. 

Update: Noah gets very zen in the tire.  He'll happily sit in it for a half hour. But when he's ready, it's low enough to the ground that he can extricate himself (with some kind of Baby Pilates move he picked up on the Net) without hurting himself.

The safari gets into full swing! (Groan.) Of course we're moving into winter here, but so far the days have been sunny and not too cool. Let's hope the kidz don't get bored of this too quickly.  It may be tricky to sell on eBay.  xo,

Glenn