backyard fun and games

The past month has been a good one for just hanging out in the backyard. Complain as I may about too much bird poop on the patio and a patchy, weedy lawn, we love having a nice place to play and I am so grateful for it in every way.   And as you see, patches of dirt can come in handy:

These guys love it, too:

 Gus has learned the big boy swing and Jimmy has reverted to the baby one.

 Gus likes getting his feet muddy while on the swing.  

Then he asks me to spray it off with the hose only so he can go do it again.  

It goes on like this for awhile.

We have had some picnic lunches in the shade.

 We got out some of the old cardboard town, but it sort of got left out overnight by some irresponsible person and attacked by the sprinklers.

So how do I throw away the cardboard airport without sobs from Jimmy?

It might have to be resurrected because I don't want to deal with that. 

Below it is pictured before the downpour.  I am too sad to take a picture of its current state.

 Gus has discovered the joy of sprinklers.

We have been growing a few things in the garden.  We got some good Romaine, carrots, basil, peppers, green onions, tomatoes, and some other herbs. But don't be taken off guard, I managed to kill quite a few things as well. Our attempt at new grass has been frustrating to say the least.

Jimmy counts the tomatoes once they turn red.  This is his counting face:

We still play some of our old favorite games like dinosaur ball and t-ball and other things with the word "ball" in them, but we made up a Treasure Hunt game that the boys love.  Jimmy and I drew a perfect scale map of our backyard to make an X on the spot where the treasure is hidden.

We take turns hiding our treasure box so the other one can find it.  

Gus loves helping to find it and Jimmy loves leading him too it.

 Gus pretty much wants to dump all the junk inside out.  Excuse me, I meant treasure.

 

It is going to start getting too hot too soon, but we have set up the kiddie pool to help with that so hopefully we can keep enjoying the outdoors.  

Happy Summer Everyone!