Millenium Park and Splashpad

On Monday (7/13), we took the girls to Millenium Park's beach and splash pad for the day. This was only our second foray to the beach this summer (the first was just for an hour on Saturday, at Versluis Beach in Plainfield). The weather was great....warm but not too hot, with just a little breeze. The girls seem to be loving the beach, which is good news since we'll be spending pretty much our entire vacation in the sand and surf! They both seem to be over their phobia of walking in the sand (a phobia which Rachel really exhibited back in March in Arizona). Megan is a real fish in the water....getting wet all the way up to her chin and "swimming" around in delight. Rachel likes to wade in the water, until it gets about waist high, then she will shout, "This way!" and point excitedly back at the shore. She loves to be sloshed back and forth by us in the water.

The great thing about Millenium Park is that they also have a splash pad...a fun area with all kinds of shooting, spraying water gadgets. There are hoops to run through, buckets to stand under, water guns to aim, a water table, etc. It's a great way to break up a long day of playing in the sand and the lake! The water at the splash pad was a little cold Monday, but Megan still willingly ran through some of the spraying water....a big improvement from just last summer, when she wasn't too keen on sprinklers or anything that got her head wet. Rachel really didn't want to partake of the splash pad. She did allow us to run with her under the spraying hoops while we were holding her, but she refused to wander much past the periphery of the whole thing on her own. She, like her big sister, is not a huge fan of water in her face (even in the tub).

This video is really cute, because Megan was being such a nurturing big sister. Without being told to, she took Rachel's hand and guided her to the water. You can see her bending down to talk to Rachel; I'm sure she was reassuring her. Bill and I sort of hung back and let them explore it on their own a bit. They would venture just far enough in to get a little spray, and then both would come running out toward us. I love Rachel's little toddler run. Even when I was shooting this video, the whole thing made me think, "Look at my babies growing up!" At the end of the video, it's kind of hard to hear, but Megan tells us that Rachel was getting "a little sad," so she brought her back to us. Well, enough commentary....just watch the video. I think you'll see what I mean.