Catching up a bit... what Ryan does after school these days and a really cool park down the street.

Whenever the weather allows (when it isn't actively raining, snowing or below freezing!) Ryan joins the other Oakwood kids for playtime in the courtyard.  Many days this involves running around playing chase-type games with rules that change by the minute, and sometimes they all get together to build something cool in the sand box.  Either way, there are lots of kids to play with and Ryan has no problem jumping right into the middle of whatever is going on.

Ryan also has some homework on most nights, usually either reading or writing.  This week he had to write a few sentences about someone who he appreciates and here is the result:

 He also gets Earth Watch homework each month which usually provides us with a great excuse to get out and enjoy a new outdoor spot.  This month we needed to visit a few places in Falls Church with open streams to observe wildlife that is attracted to the water and compare it to an area where the streams have been closed up in underground drains. Ryan really got into it and you can see him carrying the sheet of paper with different types of flora and fauna that he was supposed to look for.  We saw a fox, lots of squirrels, and a bunch of different kinds of birds.

And this is just about the coolest play park I have ever seen, and it just opened down the street from us! 

The central feature to the park is a huge weblike climbing structure.  The first time Ryan climbed up this was as far as he was comfortable going, and I complemented myself on having a very sensible child.

After playing around the park a bit longer though, he went back and climbed up to the very tippy top.  I just about had a heart attack watching him, but he thought it was great fun!  No pictures of the big achievement though, my camera had run out of batteries by then.

Ryan ran into some girls from school and stopped to chat for a while... this is a pretty cool place to hang out!

Another really cool feature at the park is this huge xylophone and I got a short video of Ryan playing a bit.

And on snowy days this is what after school (or in some cases instead of school) playtime looks like:

climbing up a snow drift in the parking lot.

Perhaps the coolest snowman ever built? We weren't responsible for this guy, but we sure liked him!

Inside the neighbourhood igloo with Oliver.

And sliding down the igloo!

Ryan and Reggie on one of the ice couches in what is usually a tennis court.