DADA!!

Miles hears the sound of mowing....

** quickly runs to fence **

"DADA!!!! DADA!!!! DADA!!!"

Hello Summer!

For those of you who don't know, summertime starts in March here in Texas... Lets go! It is unsticking your thighs from plastic chairs season!

With this beautiful weather, all we want to do is be outside. So, we've been knocking out some fun projects.

The sidewalk trail dead ends right behind our houses. Not sure why, but we get a lot of wanderers behind our house. So! Todd and Becky made a trail that connects to the existing park trails and Stephen and I put up some signage in hopes of directing traffic. So far, it seems to be working!

First mow of the season and Miles did NOT want to miss out!

We added some toys outside and got these great bins to keep everything organized

 Our biggest project that I really wanted to get done 1. before baby and 2. before it got blistering hot (because that would SUCK) was Miles' new playset! This kid loves to climb and loves being outside, so it felt like the perfect time to upgrade from our smaller fisher price model (which he rarely played on anyway). It took some strategic planning because most of the pre-fab playsets come with swings. Our backyard is a little awkward in shape so we had to make a few modifications. But, in the end, I think our plan will be perfect!

  

There were a LOT of pieces. Two huge boxes of wood + bags upon bags of hardware. It was a bit daunting. But we got this!

Miles checking out the progress

DAY 1 Progress view 1

DAY 1 Progress view 2

DAY 2:  We had the finishing touches to do - add the roof, leveling the structure, adding the ladder and the slides - which ended up being a lot more than just a days work.

DAY 3 - FINISHED!

 It was finally time to see what Miles thought.

"OOO!!!"

After this first slide attempt, we realized the straight slide is super fast. When he went by himself, he FLEW off the end. Funny to watch, but not probably not the safest. haha! So, we showed him how to go down on his belly. MUCH better.

First day of playing, he had so much fun but was a little timid. Next day, you could see his confidence increasing as he got more comfortable. We also showed him his tractors ("TRA-TOR") can play too!

He's been having a blast! We can't wait until our friends are able to join in on the fun.

Happy Monday!

Miles and Grandpa - So sweet :)

Words with Miles

 

Reunited and it Feels so Good!

After two weeks of madness, SXSW is finally over. And Miles couldn't be happier :)

Dada and Miles snuggles

Check out that swing!

These boots were made for HIKING...

...so that's just what we'll do!

Becky bought Miles these cutie rain boots that look like cars. "CAAAA shuus" as he calls them. Now that the weather is nice, the Gates have been doing some work in the back park area. With the grass manageable, Becky, Lia, Miles and I went exploring.

They're total buddies - and Lia does great with him :)

Checkin out the pond

It didn't take long for my and Becky's imagination to go a little wild. The girls are old enough to cruise through these areas by themselves (up to a certain distance), so Becky's dream of installing a hidden swing in the park finally became reality.

Her and Todd scoped out the best spot and took to the tall grass and weeds with a weed wacker to create a new trail. It's perfect because it connects the existing sidewalk to a grass trail which then hits the park trail - leading people away from our backyard area. (we get a lot of lost wanderers...)

Once the trail was carved and a precarious bridge installed over the creek (don't worry, we're making a new one), it was time to hang the swing. Becky got some great pics and videos, so check out her blog HERE to read all about it!

Miles was napping when all this was taking place, so when he woke up, we ventured out to see for ourselves.

See? Buddies!!

Super excited about the possibilities of exploration!!