He's A Player

When picking places to eat these days we pretty much try to stick to those that offer an area for kids to play.  Thankfully many places in Guatemala have those and not just the fast food ones.  Although, we do spend a lot of time at the fast food places when we get the chance (who can resist a cheeseburger and fries when you don't have access to that everyday).  Cruz loves McDonald's and has learned to recognize the golden arches.  When he spots them he starts saying, "ay, ay, ay".  His version of "play".  He knows that all of them have a playland.  He just seems to young to already recognize places like that!  He loves their cheeseburgers too.  Here is a photo of Cruz and David with "Donald".  He leaves off the Mc. 

looks like a happy face to me!

We visited a few malls while in Guatemala City last week.  We enjoyed to options of the food courts and things for Cruz to play on.  One mall has a large play area that is great for kids. There is a tree house with a slide and plenty of space to run free.   

Cruz waiting his turn to go down the slide.  Some of the older kids were good about helping him.  He always enjoys getting to play with other kids.  He thinks he is big like they are and follows their every move.  

no fear

Most every mall in Guatemala City also has a carousel.  He got to ride two last week.

He enjoyed every minute of it!

One restaurant we visited had this inflatable jumper.  He liked it more when other kids were in it with him.  One little girl got in for just a minute and then returned to her table.  Cruz got out, walked over to her table, and drove here crazy trying to get her to come back and play with him.  He kept saying, "go, go, go".  That is his way of saying "come on".  The poor little girl did not know what to think about him, and he could not understand why she would not go play.

And lastly, here he is playing at our mission house.  He loves this car and is just now getting tall enough for his feet to both touch the ground so he can ride it.  He also loves wearing his hat and look at that tongue- he is obsessed with curling it under and biting it. 

Our "little" boy is growing up fast.  He loves to run, play, jump, and climb- all the things that make him really tired so that he will rest well.  That makes our outings worthwhile.