Johnson County Parks

Fall is approaching and therefore so is one of my favorite outdoor activities with the kids.  Parks! You can visit the park any time of year, but the fall is my favorite.  The weather is comfortable and older kids are back in school so it's usually not as busy.

We've visited a lot parks with the boys.  Some are certainly better than others.  My biggest criteria in a park is safety.  How easily can I keep my eyes on all three boys at once?  How close is the playground to the street/parking lot?  Is there water nearby?  Things like shade and age-appropriate equipment are also high up on my list.

The other day I stumbled upon this post:

https://pugsnotdrugs.wordpress.com/2015/08/08/joco-park-tour-summary-and-best-of/

This blogger tried out a handful of Johnson County's parks and wrote reviews on them.  Of the parks mentioned, we've been to Antioch, Black Bob, Brougham, Frontier, Franklin, Leawood, Sar Ko Par.

A quick word about each one we've been to:

Antioch - I really like the Dodge City set up they have there.  It just makes it different.  It's also a great park for walking around.  It's got nice paths and a little pond.  Probably my favorite part is that they have several infant/toddler swings, which is great for our boys!  My biggest complaint is that it just seems to get really busy.  We've only gone during the summer time, so it's possible it would be different during the school year.  It's also a bit of a drive for us.

Black Bob - This is walking distance for us which is great.  The playground is made to look like a castle which is fun.  This park also has a big trail that goes around the whole park.  The trail has fitness stops along the way if you're into that.  Black Bob Bay is a water park that is located within this park.  We haven't been yet with the boys because they're not big fans of the water, but it looks fun.  This park also tends to get kind of busy and I wish the swings were a little closer to the main play area.

Brougham - We walk to this park a lot.  It's an easy one to take the boys to when I'm alone.  It's got swings right by the equipment which is nice.  It's set away from the street quite a bit so I don't have to worry about the boys running out into oncoming traffic.  While the play area isn't real big or fancy, the boys seem to like it just fine.  The biggest downside is that there's no shade at all in the play area.

Frontier - We've only been to this park once and didn't stay long.  The play area looks like a pirate ship which is cool but it's located RIGHT next to the parking lot.  Anyone with triplets could have told the park designers that that was a bad idea.  Even with James and I both there with the boys, we were still chasing after them the whole time to make sure they didn't run into the parking lot.  No fun.

Franklin - This park is really cool.  They have a little creek the kids can dip their feet in.  There's lots to play on and they have a sandbox with trucks and stuff.  The boys seemed to really like.  The best park is that it's in Prairie Village and has tons of big tall trees that provide lots of shade.  Great for a hot day!  The biggest downside is that this park also gets very busy.  And it's kind of hard to keep my eye on all three boys at the same time.  Not the best park to go to by myself.  It's also a bit of a drive.

Leawood - I've been to this park a handful of times.  It's right off 435.  It's set away from the street/parking lot which again is a perk with three toddlers.  There is a smaller toddler size play set right next to a bigger one.  The boys often go back and forth between the two but if I stand in the middle, I can see them all at the same time.  It doesn't ever seem to be too busy which I like.  The biggest drawback to this park is that it's over 20 minutes away.

Sar Ko Par - This park in Lenexa has a bunch of different play areas, from what I've read.  I once drove through and the one I saw was right next to the parking lot, so I vowed never to take the boys there.  However, one morning I took the boys to Cedar Ridge Church for their open gym and we ended up walking down the path to a different play area in this park.  The play area closest to the church is nowhere near a street, so I like that.  It also has a triple slide, which is pretty cool when you're a triplet.  One of the drawbacks, like most other parks, is that there are only 2 toddler swings.

I'm making it my mission this fall to try out all the others that were mentioned.  It should be fun!

And now, some of my favorite park pictures of the boys:

Triplet slide at Sar Ko Par Park

Entering the pirate ship at Frontier Park

Exploring Dodge City at Antioch Park

Exploring the anatomy of a hippo at Brougham Park

Running around the castle at Black Bob Park

The Ashers Go to the Water Park

Last Saturday our multiples group had a pool party at The Bay Water Park.  I didn't initially plan on going since two of our three hate the pool.  But I had hopes that maybe just maybe we might have fun since they have a zero-entry pool there.  Our only other experience at a zero entry pool this summer was also our only positive pool experience.

Just a quick explanation of my children - Ollie is a water baby and for the most part enjoys being in the pool.  Nolan isn't a big fan but will eventually tolerate being in the pool.  Lucas screams and flails the second he sees the water and doesn't stop until we leave.  Poor guy.  For this reason, we've gone to the pool exactly 3 times this summer.  Well, four if you count our water park adventure.

Going into it, we knew this was an occasion to call in Auntie Lisa.  There are quite a few things we feel comfortable doing these days with just James and myself.  Swimming is not one of them.  

So we got there and...surprise surprise, Lucas started his screaming fit when we were in line.  Ollie and Nolan were just waiting so patiently, holding on to their handles.  It looked like our wait was going to be a few minutes, so James took Lucas over to a playground area for a bit to play/calm down.  Once we all got inside the screaming began again.  We tried to get all the boys to dip their toes in the water.  It was kind of chilly so none of them were all that interested.  James was with Lucas on the edge of the water and the next thing we knew, he was making a mad dash for the water slide.  He started climbing the steps when James caught up with him.  I figured James would grab him and take him away from the slide.  Instead, he just walked behind him as he climbed the flight up stairs up to the slide.  I thought he was crazy to think Lucas might actually go down the slide without flipping out.  But the two of them went down together and Lucas had a giant smile on his face the entire time.  As soon as he got out of the water, he ran for the slide again.  This time Daddy made Mommy go with him.  And for the next hour, Lucas and I went up the stairs and down the slide together a total of about 30 times (and I'm really not exaggerating).  It's too bad I didn't have my Fit Bit on, because I would have had lots of steps!  I couldn't believe how much our baby who HATES water LOVED this slide!  Nolan and Ollie went down a couple times with Daddy and Auntie Lisa. Ollie liked it, but not at all as much as Lucas did.  Nolan wasn't really a fan, though he tried it a couple times just to be sure he didn't like it.

Afterwards, we ate a little something then went out and played on the playground before heading home for bedtime!

Haircuts!

Last Friday we took the boys out on the deck and gave them haircuts.  This is the second time we've done haircuts on our own, and honestly, they look pretty decent.  Ollie doesn't really mind it much, but Nolan isn't a big fan and Lucas thrashes and cries and screams the entire time.  It's a lot easier to deal with these types of behaviors at home...not to mention, we appreciate not having to spend $50 every time our boys need haircuts.  So for now anyway, homemade haircuts are the way to go!

Silly boys

It's been a while since I've posted a video.  This is every mealtime for us. Such silly boys!

Fun Little Personalities

The older the boys get, the more and more we're starting to see their individual personalities.  It's fun. It's funny how alike yet different they all are.

Ollie is our charmer.  He's the most likely to go say hi to a complete stranger when we're out and about.  He LOVES cars and happens to be a great singer.  The kid can seriously carry a tune perfectly. He obviously did not get that from his daddy.  He's currently obsessed with the alphabet and we will often hear him singing his ABC's while laying in his crib.  He is getting really good at throwing and kicking a ball and would prefer to ride on a toy car rather than push it like his brothers. He prefers the slide at the playground, while his brothers prefer the swings.  And he is most definitely our water baby!

Nolan used to be our serious little guy.  He apparently has outgrown that.  This kid is just downright silly.  At any given time, he'll just look at you and start making silly faces.  He loves making animal sounds and of the three is our biggest reader.  I'm not exaggerating when I say we read 20-30 books everyday.  He doesn't like to keep his shoes on and we often have to put them on 2-3 times whenever we are trying to get out the door.  Nolan is really into "choo-choos" right now and loves watching airplanes fly overhead.  He's finally sleeping better but is still the most likely to fuss at bedtime and is often the first to rise.  I think he does this to get extra one-on-one time.

Lucas, of the three, is often the most likely to be playing on his own.  He likes to build with blocks and Legos.  He also really enjoys drawing on the magna-doodle.  He seems to get over-stimulated easily and often has trouble when we go out in public where there are lots of people.  He's not as advanced in his language development as his brothers, but rather speaks his own little language of "yabba-gabba-gibba".  He signs very well.  It sometimes takes him a while to warm up to people, but if he knows and trusts you, you will be showered with affection from him.  He's such a sweet little soul.

All three of them are very lovey.  They cuddle and give kisses often.  They are all pretty attached to their loveys (Ollie calls his "Yee-Yee" and Nolan and Lucas call theirs "Baby").  They all love to listen to music...particularly The ABC song, Wheels on the Bus, and The Itsy Bitsy Spider.

They are so fun to watch interact.  This age certainly comes with its challenges, but they are just so fun right now!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

James' birthday was on August 8th.  We decided that day that we wanted to do something fun as a family in the morning and then go out on a date...just the two of us that night.

I made him biscuits and gravy for breakfast then once we were done eating, we drove to Crown Center.  We walked around and took The Link over to Union Station to look around there.  We were going to eat at Fritz's but the line ended up being too long.  Instead, we just stopped and had Chick-fil-A.

Family photo

Walking through the link

Snack break!

Union Station

When we got home, we put the boys down for naps.  Auntie Lisa came over after naps to watch the boys so Mommy and Daddy could have some quality time together.  I had set up a Brew Crawl for James since he's so into beer right now.  We drove up to North KC and tasted some flights at Cinder Block Brewery and got some food truck food there. Then we went to Big Rip then over to Double Shift.  We popped into Grinders to have a slice of pizza then went over to the Waldo area to check out KC Bier Company.  We sat out on the biergarten and enjoyed the nice evening.  His friends Marco, Jared, and Matt met us there and I ended up coming home a little early to relieve Auntie Lisa of her babysitting duties.

It was a great well-balanced day full of family fun and also adult time!

Happy Birthday, Dakota!

Our adorable niece turned 2 on August 7th.  We had a great time at her birthday party.  She had a "letters and numbers" theme which the boys LOVED since they're obsessed with letters and numbers.  They had a whole lot of outdoor activities for the kids including a water slide that Ollie just loved.  It was a great day celebrating with great people.  Love this girl!

Dude!  Watch out!

Water slide!

Nolan playing at the water table

One of my all-time favorite pictures of Ollie

Team work!

Watching airplanes

Dakota opening her presents!