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Thursday, January 27, 2011

Going Outside Again

As I have been posting, moving has had its up and downs, as usual.  This time, one of the ups we planned for is really turning out to be fantastic.  We have usable outdoor space again!
At out last house, we were supposed to have a yard, but thanks to the ridiculous lack of care that was put into designing our home, we ended up with 5 massive concrete steps with no railing on one side, and a lot of prickly plants.  The Girls hardly ever got to go out if we were home.  Those steps scared me.  There was really no room for them to play safely.  About the only thing they could do would be to chalk on the tiny cement landing we had.  That was fine, but I still had to watch them to make sure no one fell off the steps, especially when The Little One was really little.

Now, though, that has changed.  Our yard area is level.  It is still mostly concrete, but that's ok.  They can play.  Thanks to the dollar store box of new chalk I bought, they go outside and play hopscotch just about every day.  Yesterday, The Big One ask to take her books outside to sit and read.  As soon as I can get someone to carry it for me, I'm going to go get a couple of bags of sand, and set up their sand box again, which has sadly lain up against a fence for two years.  There is so much they can do!  I keep finding bottles of bubbles, and later today, The Little One and I are going to have a bubble-palooza fest outside in celebration of the fact that we now have a place to chase them again.  Well, she can jump for and chase them while I blow them from my seat.  Still, it is really fantastic to be able to go out and do things, even in our little space.
My husband and I have a few plans, aside from the sand box, for the space.  We are also going to be setting up their playhouse again once we clean up a little of the barky landscaped area.  We hope to get a new patio swing and a little patio set for them.  I can't wait for picnics in the back yard this spring.  Ice cream will now be eaten out there.  Just the amount of potential mess moved from in the house to outside makes me all giddy.

On top of that, they both go outside, together, at the same time, and leave me alone, in here, to get things done.  I have never had that before.  I open the blinds and windows.  I can hear them and see them, though they often can't see me due to the sunlight which makes things a bit more fun for me.  They go.  Safely.  They are not underfoot.  They are not on top of me asking me to entertain them.  They are not sitting in their rooms fighting.  They are at least outside fighting, and even though the neighbors can hear that, I don't care.  They are  there and I am here!  Woot for that!

Seriously, this is fantastic.  I think we all look forward to lots of fun time in our own little outdoor space again. I see a much sunnier future for us with our little yard.

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