A Birthday Party in Tumbleweed Park

My daughter, Jenny, let me know yesterday that my youngest grandson, Dominic, who at 3 years old is in preschool, had been invited to the birthday party of one of his classmates; his sister Gianna would be there as well and I could meet them at the venue, Tumbleweed Park in Chandler.

It turns out that Tumbleweek Park is enormous, and it took me quite awhile to find out which of the 'pavillions' the party was at. But it was this one: Playtopia, covered to protect from the intense Arizona summer sun.

The covered play area includes every kind of climbing thing you can imagine. And, outside the covered area, are covered areas, including a sort-of zipline thing, and a big sandpit filled with pretend dinosaur bones.

We were served pizza for lunch. The young lady next to Dom is Natume (Na-too-may). She is also in his class, and is his very best friend. They each talk to their mothers about the other, and went everywhere together, mostly holding hands, during the party.

It only cost our host $8 an hour to rent one of the covered picnic areas; everything else there is free. (And you don't have to rent a picnic area to go, either.)

That's birthday girl Karena looking askance at the cake.

Dominic was very excited, because Happy Birthday To You is his very favorite song, and he loves singing it, especially with a group.

There are a number of carefully designed climbing rocks. They look more-or-less natural, but have indentations suitable for small feet to find purchase.

Gianna is at the top!

After reaching the top, though...what should she do next?

Well, we could always allow little brother to climb up as well! (He needed a little help, but not much!)

Both of them wanted a little assistance climbing down.

Gianna is remarkably agile. She managed to leap from rock to rock almost every time, needing to climb carefully just twice.

And Dominic was right behind her.

The sand pit was another favorite. Here are Dominic and Natume playing together.

Gianna played with the giant, broken dinosaur egg for a bit, then went for the sand pit.

We then shifted to the zipline thing. It's not a real zip line, but it gives a similar thrill to toddlers without being dangerous. Here, Jenny is giving Natume a boost while Natume's mom catches a picture.

Then came Dominic's turn. (He had to have line etiquette explained to him, but he cooperated once he got it.) The best thing about Dominic's ride was that he giggled the entire time! I mean, he just couldn't stop laughing. I so love his love of life!

Gianna, on the other hand, is very focused and concentrates on doing things correctly. She is in gymnastics and she even does a proper dismount at the end!

Then there was the horizontal tree climbing.

And a dinosaur egg photoshoot with Mommy.

The girl of a thousand faces!

Dominic is absolutely fearless, while at the same time being appropriately cautious. An amazing combination to find in anyone, much less a three-year old!

And look at Gianna climbing! No fear of heights in this one!

Then along comes Dominic, not to be outdone.

Dom asked me to take him to see the fire engine and school bus.

How I love these little guys!

And as you can imagine, when they got home they were more than ready for a nap!