Out in the Country: Space to Play

The girls love playing at "the new house", as we've begun calling it. And as much fun as they're having, they haven't even gotten to see what we can do with the space.

Grandma has some great playing options, which I can tell you about from experience. The patio in back is great for riding roller racers and scooters. It's also great for coloring with chalk, but if you use crayon, it makes adults grouchy even though they should know better than to not have any chalk in the house.

We need to re-lay some cement going down the slope, because that's one of the best parts of riding things around back here. If you get going fast enough, you might even end up across the drive.

The windowed area used to be a little porch kind of thing, before the sun room was added on. That is one change I wish could be undone, because I used to use that area as a play house. But we'll leave it. I think Dad would be pretty put out if I tried to talk him into a new un-construction project so soon.

The old basketball hoop is still up, but the cement probably could use some work. Actually, it would add a whole new dimension to one-on-one basketball if we left that rocky terrain. Everyone else would be just as unskilled at dribbling as me!

There's a lot of open space at the house. We need to decide where to put the swing set, wading pool, and sand box. Probably this side of the house, since it's farther from the road. Look for a fence project to be in our future. I'll feel a little better about playing on the other side of the house if we get that done.

See that big tree kind of in the center? Used to be the greatest climbing tree in the world, before Grandma had my uncle cut off some of the lower branches. She claimed it was because of storm damage, but I'm still pretty sure it was because she didn't want us climbing it anymore. And I never even fell out, so I don't think the desecration was justified!

Here's another great cement square to play on, but it's pretty cracked, too. It's great for small fireworks in the summer or for hop scotch. Also, playing house because it has one sidewalk leading up to it and one leading away, and that's kind of cool.

The girls have been outside a little, but mostly on days that were windy or when they had other playing plans in mind, so they haven't really experienced all the options that will be available to them. The swing set won't make the journey over until we're going to be sleeping there, but the sandbox will be set up as soon as it won't be freezing over night anymore. That should be fun! And messy.

But for right now, they're content to run around the house, jump on the "new" furniture, and play with the few toys we've brought over or unpacked from the auction.