Heat Wave

It has been unusually hot for early spring. With temperatures reaching the mid to upper 80s.

So I decided to pull out the new wading pool Grandpa Bob and Grandma Judi got for Ben for his birthday. As far as I am concerned this pool is awesome and perfect in every way for a toddler and baby (and mommy).

I also took a few pictures showing the layout/size of our yard since I occassionally find myself trying to explain to people just how small it is. Considering the size I do think we make pretty good use of the space.

We have beds along the left side and in front of the shed (all beds have no been cleaned out, but hadn't been at the time of this picture). And we have the sand and water table set up with actual sand now. The full yard pics were taken from up on my screeened porch. That is why they show a weird texture.

So that is the whole yard. Pretty much a postage stamp. In the below picture you can see that we have a big beautiful park directly behind our property though. This somewhat makes up for it.

I have been so proud of Ben lately conquering many of the things he was too afraid to do. Last summer it was very difficult to actually get him into the pool...let alone to stay in the pool. This year he loves it and never wants to get out. He plays with all the toys and will lie on his belly. Another conquered fear is the slides at the playground. We have never been able to get him to go down a slide, but lately he is LOVING it. Each visit to the park he has to be coaxed and eventually basically sat down and pushed down the slide the first time. But then he remembers how much he loves it and he goes round and round and round up the steps and down the slide by himself. And the other day he let me clean him off with the garden hose. He had gotten covered in sand and he has always been afraid of sprinkling water, but he LOVED being sprayed with the hose and laughed hysterically.

The enclosed red area is a separate little baby pool area, but the water in there doesn't warm up as much so I just put Anna in the regular pool.

And there is a slide coming out of the baby pool!

There is my little sweetie girl who loved sitting in the water on such a hot day!