My husband and I really have been keeping to our decision of bringing the children to the park at least twice a week.
The difference this round was.....
There were some family friends coming along too for the first time with us!
I did not know who my husband had asked but we ended up with 15 of us, adults and children. All these are our church friends with their children, who are our children's church friends hahhaha.
Anyway at 430pm, the weather was very cloudy. I was thinking if it would not rain, the weather would be perfect. As we were approaching the park, it started drizzling. We were the first to reach so our children started some running and scooting first while waiting. The whole park was empty as it was going to rain so I think no one would be coming except us.
Great! It was as if we were owning the park ourselves!
Our first friend's family finally came. However, the rain clouds came by and it started raining cats and dogs. So we had to take shelter. There were no ready-built hut in this park so we opened our umbrella and stood under it until the rain stopped. I let my eldest son put on his raincoat so he could still scoot when it was down to just drizzling. My youngest son stood so still under my umbrella, did not budge at all, which I appreciate.
Thank God the rain was not a long rain and the rain clouds passed by twice, and that was it. After the rain, the weather became very nice -cooling and a bit breezy, absolutely love it! There were a bit of mud puddles but it was okay, we hang out at the basketball court where it was all cemented. Some of the adults started playing basketball with the older children while the younger children played football on the other side. A friend started playing badminton with her daughter. Some children went climbing and walking.
My youngest son took over his brother's oversized raincoat to go walking with his grandma too.
I waited a while and laid out my picnic mat after checking on the grass dampness. My mat was water resistant so we did not have any problem with the grass. Some of the younger children came by for light snacks that I brought: matcha cheesecake, cherry tomatoes, apples, bruschetta chips and cornflakes again, all my typical easy picnic food hahaha.
As my youngest son was munching away, suddenly something fell literally from the sky- a shuttlecock! It stunned him a while and he froze, not knowing what to do hahaha.
After the eating, all went back to play for a while more. Then at 625pm we all decided to go back to our respective homes for dinner.
That was indeed a long awaited playdate due to a long pandemic lockdown. I could see the excitement in the children's eyes seeing their friends. My son now keeps saying, "I really enjoy and had fun with my friends. I want to go to the park again with them."
I bet before we go park everytime from now on, he would be asking, "Who are the friends coming with us today?"
I am sure all of us have been deprived of social interaction for at least 7 long months. The children's childhood has changed so much due to the pandemic. Now if we can, we try to make it up to them, yet still practising some precautions and wisdom.
CHEERS TO MORE OUTDOOR OUTINGS!
