Mama, outside!

The kids are big fans of being outside since we got the swing set. It's the first thing Aaron says in the morning, "Mama, outside! Shoes, outside!". Oh if he only understood that Mommy is not awake until she's had two cups of coffee.

We went outside yesterday after naps, I thought it wasn't too hot, there seemed to be a breeze. I greatly underestimated the sun, you know the giant ball of fire in the sky. It got hot real quick and that gentle breeze did little to help. So I decided to give the kids some freeze pops to keep them cool. It was that or listen to them scream because we went inside. High fructose corn syrup it is! Anyway, the kids loved their freeze pops while they lasted. I tried to keep draining the liquid so we didn't have a big sticky mess and it seemed to work until the kids decided to do it themselves.


We went back outside after dinner when it finally cooled down. When I say we, I mean Scott, I was at the grocery store looking like a hot sweaty mess. Anyway, our garden is near the swing set and earlier in the day I was showing the kids the tomatoes. Well....Jill decided to pick those tomatoes. Two tomatoes to be exact. Two tiny green tomatoes. When Scott caught her she promptly threw them across the yard and held out her hands to show him that she didn't have anything (she's smart). I wonder if they'll still ripen?

I think this weekend is supposed to be really hot....again....so I don't know how much time we will be spending outside. Hope you're having a great weekend!

If my marriage can survive....

....the assembly of a swingset it can probably survive anything.

Since the kiddos turn two (AH!) next week and since Uncle Sam was so kind this tax season we got the kids a swingset for their birthday. Now when I was researching the swingsets I knew I wanted an all wood one with a clubhouse that was big enough for both of them. Never in my research did I think, "Gee how many hours will this take?". I mean, it's a swingset, how long could it take? Apparently a lifetime.

Scott and Paw Paw started on Wednesday afternoon. Now I suggested that Scott read through the directions prior to the construction. I was told it wouldn't make a difference if he read them now or when they were assembling the monstrosity. (I'm reading "I love you now hush!" right now and this is one of the chapters, why women read directions and why men don't). So when they assembled and disassembled the same piece about three times I politely went back inside the house and mumbled "should have read the directions first".

By the end of day 1 (gosh that sounds a little Extreme Home Makeover, doesn't it?) the a-frame, slide and ladder/rock wall were assembled. I was told these were the hardest pieces. The slide after all took an hour give or take (read: give give give!). My darling Scott also had a nice sunburn on the back of his neck. Now he truly is a redneck. Sunscreen and not wearing a black t-shirt clearly were not in the 42 pages of directions ;)

Construction resumed promptly at 10 am on Day 2. Scott wore sunscreen this time, and a light colored shirt, and something to cover his neck. Everything seemed to be going smoothly at this point and by 4 pm-ish everything was assembled. I even helped with the construction. I drilled in four screws to secure the canopy. Yup, this girl knows her way around power tools (how this came to be will probably be included in my Father's Day post).

Around the time they finished the kids woke up from their naps and...well....could care less. They were more excited to see Paw Paw (HUGE thank you to Paw Paw for helping do this!) in the backyard. Awesome....

This afternoon the kids will get to try everything out, I truly hope they like it. We're the type of parents that want our kids to have everything we had and more. For me, the swingset is the more. Growing up we had a park in our neighborhood so there was no need for a swingset, but I always wanted one. Now I get to live through my kids, and maybe I'll go down the slide a few times too.