52 Weeks: Week 22

Week 22: After Karate Fun

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon Ava and Lola take karate classes in a park near our home. I love that their karate class is outdoors rather than inside. It gives Mathilde a chance to run around and play while the big girls practice their karate chops, and it gives me a chance to just sit and relax for a while - in between chasing after Mathilde, of course! Friends often drop by to catch up and watch the class. We can talk, laugh and eat without having to worry about disturbing the class or making a mess. It's just lovely all round. And because it hardly ever rains here we rarely need to come up with a back up plan. The one advantage to being in a drought! 

If you were to ask Ava and Lola the best thing about having karate classes in the park they would no doubt tell you that it's the play equipment. After every class, without fail, the girls are on the play equipment within a matter of seconds. In fact, the whole class is. Even Mathilde. Or at least, she tries. There are several climbing structures next to where the class takes place and they are a huge hit with the kids. They climb to the top. They play tag. They hang upside down. They jump from as high as possible. Ok, that last one is just Ava. There's always at least one kid calling out "Look at me, look at me, look at me!" as they hang upside down or balance on one foot from the top of the play structure. 

It's a pretty fun place to hang out so let's take a look at what the girls got up to after class this week...

I love that weird, old painted climbing structure. It reminds me of crazy playground equipment from when I was a kid. You know the kind - the stuff made out of metal that burns you in Summer, is too cold to grip in Winter, snags your clothes on it's rough edges, smashes your teeth and breaks your arm when you fall onto the concrete that is inevitably underneath. Ah, the good old days! I'm always surprised that old play structure it's still there given how safe most playgrounds are made nowadays. Maybe it's actually a sculpture!

With Summer vacation coming up in just over a week (eek!) you can bet that the girls will be spending a lot of time hanging out at the top of these climbing structures very soon.