Slip Sliding Away

If you were to ask me to name three toys or games that remind me of being a kid, I'd say, 1) the Lemon Twist, 2) the Chinese jump rope (hey, I grew up right next to a mostly Asian neighborhood in Hawaii and it was a popular game) and...3) the Slip 'N Slide.  Back in the day, we played with the "my parents aren't going to fork over for a real one so we'll have to make do" version of the Slip 'N Slide, which was either a bunch of lawn garbage bags cut open and lined up or an old shower curtain.  Occasionally we were lucky enough to have a new Navy family move into our military housing complex that actually had an authentic one to share...and we were in heaven.

When we passed a box with a big, fancy Slip 'N Slide in the water play aisle at Target a few weeks ago, I just knew we had to have one...for the kids, you know.  This was the real deal and way schmancier than anything we had back in the 1970's.  Yesterday afternoon, after a morning of gymnastics and running around looking for weed eater parts (thrilling, no?), I busted out the box and set it up in the backyard.  SweetPea wanted to know what was up with the long, flat pool and didn't understand why only one little spot at the end of the pool actually collected water.  Lil Buddy stared at it for a few minutes, then yelled "Slide!"

I quickly learned a couple of things:

1) a two and four year old won't necessarily understand how to build up the speed they need, then launch themselves down the slide on their bellies to get a good "slip" going on.  Soution: Mom or big sister has to grab the 27 pound two year old by his wrists and pull him down the slide...

and Mom has to push the slightly heavier, 35 pound four year old down the slide by her bottom.

2) The spiffy, inflatable body boards included in the box don't work for squat as far as making the ride down the slide any more slippery.  Seems it's more fun just to sit on them and try to float in the little "pool" end of the slide.

After a few somewhat anticlimactic slide attempts, SweetPea decided sitting next to the spouting water and using it as a drinking fountain was more fun...

Lil Buddy made himself comfortable lounging in the "deep end" of the slide...

His sister took his lead and joined him...

Eventually they both had a change of heart and decided letting Mom push them down the slide over and over again really WAS fun.  Not long after that, I was red faced, covered in sweat and regretting I didn't put on my swimsuit so I could dip in and get cool too.

Today, I think we may play on the Slip 'N Slide again, only this time...I'm suiting up...and maybe we'll do it a lot earlier when it's not so freakin hot out!