Kid-Friendly Backyard

We remodeled our backyard this spring/summer and it is finally ready for little feet to run around! We had very sharp sword plants around the perimeter that we had removed, we retiled and replaced the BBQ, hung flowers, and much more! I moved the alphabet foam flooring outside so the kids have a safe(r) play area for the water table, slide, and inflatable pool. The slide is by far the favorite. It is amazing how quickly they learned to climb up the slide themselves. Dellan likes to stand at the top (which scares me to death) and hang out up there. Laney instantly sits and works at getting both her feet pointed down the slide (she has a hard time getting that second foot out from under her!). They will both go down on their own now, but wait for you to be at the bottom just in case. I started counting, "1, 2, THREE!" and Laney quickly picked it up. Every time she gets in position, holds up one finger, says "wuuuuuu," then pauses while I say two, then screams at the top of her lungs for three. This is because I saw three much more enthusiastically than 1 and 2, and it is her favorite part! Laney also loves to play in the dirt of the potted trees. She has eaten it, spread it on her clothes. thrown it, but mostly just "unloads" it onto the ground one handful at a time. Dellan runs around, turns on the bubble machine (this has to be on, even if he has no intentions of staying near it), and constantly checks back in the family room to watch TV. He has to make sure he isn't missing anything good! He has mastered opening and closing the door, so this is no problem for him!

Awesome

Freedom!

Summer nights are my favorite time of year! It stays light all the way to bedtime these days, so we have more opportunities to go outside and play at night after Daddy gets home. We took the kids in the wagon to the field at the school nearby and let them (and Hula) run free. They LOVED it. I think the idea of no walls and freedom as far as they could see was exciting. Dellan must have run a mile over there! Laney loved Daddy to "chase" her around while she squeeled.

A Cozy Whale

When the weather isn't warm enough for water in the pool, you improvise to entertain two toddlers. Every pillow and blanket I could find made its way into the whale, and the kids were entertained fo hours. Dellan would lay on the sides and watch TV. They would run up to the edges and fling themselves over, head fist into the fluff. The only problem was, the following week when there WAS water inside, this resulted in a mouth full of water!