a few backyard moments..if only it weren't raining

So one of the boy's coolest Christmas gifts was this teepee, crafted by nana and papa. The poles are PVC and when Papa cut them down to size on our driveway, we were left with six three foot sections of pipe. Papa's orders to me as I stacked up the scrap were something like, "I expect those to be retooled into something useful by the next time I come. " Well...



Six dollars worth of elbows and a few hours worth of tying that net while I watched a movie, and viola! Soccer goal. It was still pretty snowy outside when we finished it, so the boys used it inside, but now its out in the back.


Another request over the break was for a tree fort. In fact, since we told Mr. Baseball that we were buying a house, he has had an order in for a tree fort. The problem is that this house does not have a lot of really big trees, so we improvised. Here are the boys helping with the ladder.


We used some scrap wood from the shed and built this "tree house" as an appendage to the half-dead apple tree next to the brown shed. They really wanted to drink some apple juice once it was completed.




They're pirates! Arrgh.


You can't really tell, but there is about a half-ton of rock scattered all over the yard that we still need to move, but the soccer goal and the baseball net and the tree fort are a nice start. And thankfully, the dog has decided on a poo corner, so the boys can play out in most of the yard without having to worry about THAT.

Grass....green grass...that's what we're really missing.