Boy play

On Tuesday nights Chad takes Marissa to gymnastics leaving me and Chase to hang out by ourselves.  After dinner we like to go into his room and read books, put together puzzles or play with his train table or little cars. I'm always surprised how much fun it is playing with "boy stuff".  Maybe because although I'm a pretty girly girl now, when I was little I had my own set of Tonka trucks and matchbox cars (and I still have a soft spot for cars).   My first best friend was a boy and I remember playing with his G.I. Joe stuff (and him coming over to play Barbie's too).  Anyway, besides the fun that can be had playing with boy stuff, I am also surprised to notice how differently my kids play and use their imaginations.  Marissa rarely plays with things how they are meant to be played with.  Bins that hold toys get emptied out and turned upside down to be used as some kind of stepping stones.  Chase's train table gets taken apart to become a horse stable or a tiger cage (and Chase becomes the horse or tiger).  Even in the bathtub- her Ariel doll turns into a paintbrush when her hair gets wet.

Although he plays different than Marissa, Chase isn't lacking imagination either.  He loves playing with his "guys" and stands them up facing each other while they have conversations that only he can understand.  He also loves playing with his little toy animals and they often ROAR and get into "fights" or have their own little "houses".  Tonight we were playing with these little cars and he there were two groups.  He pointed at one group and said "these guys are mad"  and then the other group and said "these guys are happy".  I took a picture of the happy group. :)  And my happy little boy playing.

Macro Monday answer:  Yes, it was a leaf.