There's a tree next to our yard that has produced a bumper crop of berries this year. No idea what kind of tree it is, but it drops berries by the thousands (or so it seems) that look exactly like blackberries. It's never been on my radar, but the conditions this year are such that it has been a very, shall we say, *FRUITFUL* tree this summer. Unfortunately, my desire for shade over the sand box has directly conflicted with this tree's desire to barf berries all summer long. It's been the death of me. There's a tarp over the sand box (that I have regularly cleaned), but all summer it has literally - literally - been filled with berries, rain water, fruit flies, and who knows what else. At its worst, the berries sit in piles, molding, attracting flies, rotting, and smelling awful. No amount of raking or anything can take care of them. Matt finally cut the limbs down that he could reach that hung over our yard, which helped some. But still, the berries and rain water have created a veritable pond on the tarp that has been a nuisance to clean regularly, and no one wants to play in our beautiful sand box. :( The sand underneath has been clean and dry, thankfully, but the process of getting to it is quite absurd.
Last week, Matt came up with an idea - which sounded silly at first, but it's brilliant. We place a lawn chair in the middle of the sand box, bought a larger tarp, and drape it over the chair and the whole box, so it tents up in the middle. It's anchored on all corners with cinder blocks. Berries and rain roll right off!!! It's a very ghetto setup to look at, but it's the only thing that's worked. Just this week, Levi has been wanting to play in the sand box again, and he loves it!!!! Yesterday, he was pretending the sand box was his boat. He was Captain Levi, and I cracked up when he told me his boat's name was the Berry Connection.
Levi playing on the Berry Connection. Luke LOVES when I fill the wagon with a little water for him to splash. :)
Hey Dad - here's the tree house that Levi saw in his I Spy book. He said, "Grandpa Mark is going to build that for me next." So there you go!!! hahahahaha
It's inevitable that our life will soon be filled with chortles and snorts about butts, poop, and farts. There, I said it. I don't like to say those things around the boys, because they will come up with them on their own sooner rather than later. I really don't like writing about said things on a public forum because it's not the most...tasteful..enterprise, but it IS my memory book. We rarely, if ever, say the word butt around Levi. We say bottom or keester or buns. Yesterday I accidentally slipped and said it. It was unlike anything I've ever seen. His eyes - I am not joking - lit up with an awareness, like he's genetically programmed to KNOW that that word is inherently funny to a little boy and holds a host of potential for the next...several...decades. And he just started rattling out question after question and proclamation after proclamation about the word butt. "That word, butt, is funny. Mama, what is the Spanish word for butt? We need to tell Eli what is a butt." And on. And on. And on. And it was just genuine, holy-cow-I-just-discovered-the-moon excitement, like I flipped a switch in his little boy mind simply by uttering.....butt. He was on the changing table, and I was trying to change him (nope, not even close to being potty trained), and I was laughing SO hard I was crying, because this transformation, this awareness, was so vibrant, I could nearly hear the jackpot sirens splitting the atmosphere.
*Ahem.*
Anyway, we went to the park today. The boys had fun. Luke commandeered the Haisch's stroller and tried to take off on his own. He does that. We'll be in the front yard and he just takes off crawling or pushing something down the sidewalk.
Bye, Luke!!
(Bear in mind that objects in the camera ARE closer than they appear)
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