“Let’s go to the airplane park!” There’s a small airport near downtown Greenville which has an aviation-themed park next to it. The far end of the park abuts the runway, and it’s a favorite for the kids: you can play on a fantastic playground, ride your bike around the paved oval circling the whole playground, and watch small airplanes land and take-off.

At the far end of the track, next to the runway, there is a significantly steep slope — significantly steep for a toddler, that is — and it should be a heart-stopping moment every time the Boy roars down the slope. But he does it so carefully, first going down only half the slope, then a bit more, a bit more, until he’s going down the whole thing. He’s so cautious that it takes some of the worry from both K and me. But every time we’re there without a helmet for him, I think, “Drat — should have brought that helmet.”

After dinner, it’s play time. First some family play with E’s fishing game he got for Christmas. We try to teach the Boy how to let the swinging magnet slow so that he can lower it to the fish to “catch” it, but he has a more effective way: simply grab the magnet in one hand while holding the rod in the other. Simple. But eventually we convince him.

Afterward, we split up to have some more interest-specific play. The Boy and I head up to his room to play with his cars. Although we only have the sheriff character from Cars, we choose a car to be Lightning McQueen and another to be Mater and go tractor tipping, just like in the film.

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The ladies, in the meantime, play Ticket to Ride, a train-based strategy game that enthralls the Boy — trains, so of course! — but is obviously too much for his young mind to comprehend.

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