The weather has been crazy this year. March was unseasonably warm. April continued to be warm and dry (not many April showers). May started with rain and ended with heat. June has come and I've pulled out sweaters twice in the last week.
No matter the weather, the kids love to be outside. June is really good at opening doors now and thinks it is her responsibility to open all the doors for everyone and gets fairly upset if someone happens to open a door that she had claimed dibs on. This makes getting places somewhat difficult since there is usually a big traffic jam at the door while we wait for June (who is always last to be ready already) to get to the door to open it.
Once outdoors, the kids have a couple hangout spots. After Ruben's nap, they love to sit on the front stoop and wait for the mail or wait for Karl to get home depending on the time. While in the front yard, Ruben pulls the snapdragon flowers off the potted plants and picks up all the rocks from around the pots and puts them in the pots or on the sidewalk. June takes Nova's tie-up leash (unless Nova's out there with them) and pretends it is a microphone or a phone or whatever other prop she needs for her latest one-act. They're actually quite content to spend hours in the front yard. I'm pretty sure it makes the neighbors nervous because I usually don't come out with them right away but keep track of them from the kitchen or living room while I try to get something done. However, the front step is a great place to read a book as well.
The back yard is the other option especially when I'm cooking or doing dishes since I can see the back yard from the kitchen window. We recently got a Little Tykes play house from some friends who had outgrown it. It is amazingly fun to play in, unless it happens to be a warm day, and then it is a safety hazard because it becomes its own easy-bake oven.
The newest place to hang out is the garage and driveway. Some other friends moved away (sniff, sniff) and gave us their old big wheel bike and scooter. June has struggled with pedaling her tricycle (I think it is actually the tricycle that is the biggest problem, not her large motor skill), but the first time she sat down on the big wheel bike she managed to pedal all the way out of the garage until she discovered that the buttons on the big wheel bike played songs so now we're back to just sitting and pushing buttons instead of pedaling. The scooter is a hit. She loves to show people (especially Ruben) how she can stand with one foot and push with the other. It is nice master something so easily. Ruben is content to take his little pushalong bike and run it headlong down the driveway which makes me incredibly nervous because whenever he runs it looks like all his momentum is in his head, not his feet. One of these days he will take a faceplant that may require a doctor or hospital visit.
It was so dry at the end of May, the ground was starting to crack where the grass was thinner. What a great excuse to pull out the sprinkler. Plus, it gave me incentive to till up some of the yard I de-gardened and actually plant some grass seed.
June loves to play in the sprinkler, but as you can see, Ruben just hides his face in Karl or my neck and begs us to stop with such torture. We do not. I consider it retribution for all those nights he doesn't sleep.
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