A Curious Play Team of Two

Alice doesn't really like having her picture taken.
Getting a photo of her is close to having a miracle  happen.

As Alice, Betty and I were shopping, we came across the Play Centre in the middle of the Market Mall, an area where 30 children can play as their parents watch on from the sides.

The rule of the day seems to be that everyone wears socks and there is a height restriction, which Alice didn’t meet.

“You are way over the limit,” said the woman at the entrance to Alice. “And that means there is no climbing on top of the equipment for you.”

I looked over at a child who was standing on the hood of a make-believe car.

I said to Alice that what the woman meant is that she couldn’t do what that smaller child was doing.

That was fine with Alice and both of the girls ran to find the entrance.

I noticed that Betty and Alice sat on the same toys, snuggling into just one seat and then operating the handles of whatever it was they were sitting on.

Betty flies along the hop scotch pattern at the mall.

I wondered how long it would take them to separate (or have a fight), but they mostly ran together from one large toy to another. Probably Betty was taking Alice’s lead.

Betty liked the wooden puzzles that were attached to the walls of the corral.

Alice lead her to the hop scotch, which seemed to be a game both girls knew, for their feet ran and then skipped along the lines that were painted onto the rug.

I heard an announcement telling everyone to clear the corral.

I tried to get the girls to leave. No other families seemed to be leaving.

I asked the woman in charge how long the corral would be empty until we could go back in it.

 “Oh, that is just a pre-programmed announcement that we ignore,” she said, going on, “It just helps parents whose children don’t want to leave, to get them out.”

Who knew?

We left when Michael and Miranda came to get us to go home.

I think that the play in the corral was even more fun for the girls than shopping was.

Arta