The Schuchards: Playing outside

John would live outside if we'd let him. He is so in love with the outdoors that if we're in a hurry to drive somewhere and I open the garage door before I've strapped him into his car seat, he'll literally squirm his way out of my arms to go run out onto the driveway. The reverse is true for when we arrive home: if we've got something to do, or it's mealtime or naptime, I have to close the garage door immediately after we pull into the garage or else John is very upset that he can see outside but isn't allowed to go outside.

That is not to say that John doesn't enjoy the garage itself. When the car is parked on the driveway, John enjoys walking around the garage and checking out all the random things inside. He (of course) loves the lawnmower. He likes all of Daddy's big Army trunks too. Here is a video of John playing with some leftover trim line from the edger we borrowed from the Reclas (this was taken pre-haircut, so don't laugh):

When John does play outside on the driveway, he likes to push and pull around some of his walker toys (i.e. the Fisher Price lawnmower and the Chicco train) and the plastic shovel we have in the garage. Sometimes I'll blow bubbles for him, but he loses interest very quickly when I do. He also likes to chase around bouncy balls. We just bought John a water table so he can splash and play in his swim trunks. Here are some pics from a couple of weeks ago when we played outside:

Daddy pushes John's lawnmower as John "pushes" Daddy's lawnmower.....such concentration on John's face!

Hanging out by the new water table.....look at that physique!

John knows the word "park" now and gets very excited when he hears we're going there. Since it started getting warm outside, we've been going to the park every day. His favorite thing to do at the park is to just wander around and look at things. Most of the time he wanders right off the playground and onto the sidewalk where people are walking or jogging. Last weekend we took him to the smaller Harker Heights park, and we played on the equipment and watched some of the tee-ball games being played next door on the baseball fields.

Mom:"Where's Daddy, John?"

John: "I dunno!" (This gesture is his latest trick.)