Friday, March 29, 2013

Pool Party! In Minnesota...in March.

Spring has sprung!

Warm weather has arrived (by warm, I mean warm for here...40 degrees is toasty in Minnesota) and with it, the melting of all our snow.

Mother Nature decided to grant us the greatest gift of all- a pool! I always wanted a pool.

Or a lovely pond.

Either way, I knew that I was residing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but I did not anticipate the 10,001st forming in my backyard.

When I was a young girl, my siblings and I looked forward to this happening all year long. We would wait and watch all the snowfall, hoping for tons and tons, because we knew the consequences of all that snow would be when spring would finally arrive.

Our backyard went downhill slightly and at the bottom, where it flattened out, there would be a large accumulation of water due to all the melting going on. For us, this would be days of pure glee and tons of fun.

So. Much. To. Do!

We would use our sleds as boats, make the most awesome winter "stew" and waddle through it like we were on an expedition. There would be log "alligators" we would have to escape, giant sticks to be used as paddles and some serious splashing to be done.

I'm fortunate enough to have something similar for my kids to play with...or am I?

As the mom, I now realize what a disaster this could turn into and what a HUGE mess it makes!

I can't let them out there unsupervised any more, which totally cuts into my "Mommy quiet time" (like that actually exists...ever). They literally go swimming in it or they drink it.

And then they come in soaked to the core.  Which wouldn't bother me as much, if someone else did the laundry in the house.

But because I need to relax a bit, (a tiny, tiny, tiny bit...) I decided to just let them play, even if it was for just a few minutes. I took some pictures so you could check out our new pond.

Seriously considering some fish back there.

And maybe a waterfall.

This is what I saw when I first got out there.
Don't mind our chopped down tree in the back.
We're saving all that for one GIANT bonfire this summer.
It's going to be like a wildfire in our backyard.

 
The playground is now playing the part of "pirate ship".
Just like Evan always dreamed.

You can see the sandbox in the middle.
Or what's left of the sandbox.

 
Evan making his own winter "stew".
He dumped it on Morgan shortly after this picture was taken.

 
More playing and splashing going on.
And maybe some drinking...ewwwww.

 
My feet getting soaked.
Say one thing about the boots... I dare you.
They are ugly, but awesome.
Except when I waddle through water.

 
The lost shoe of summer that's now a boat.

 
Morgan won't stay out of it.
Which means, Morgan won't stop eating sticks and drinking the water.

 
Declan splashing.

 
Declan ignoring me completely and doing what he wants.
What else is new.

 
At this point, I was done.
I wanted them out of there.
You can see how much control I have.
 
More ignoring mommy...she's totally lame anyway.

 
Playing with his "boat".


 
After me telling him to not go in there, I seriously considered pushing him here.
Just a tiny bit.
Not a big push...more like a nudge.
But I didn't.
I swear. 

 
Some of the caverns I found in our yard.
We must have an entire river underneath all the snow.

 
I thought they were pretty.


 
I have no idea what was creating the swirls, but I found it pretty.
A little gross...but mostly pretty.

 
More swirly stuff.


 
The end result.
Hot darn mess.
So wet and smelly...never again.
 
You win this round, backyard...see you in the summer.






6 comments:

  1. What great pics! And your comments made me laugh. :D

    I'm one of the A-Z Minions and just wanted to stop by to say hello. I'm glad to have found your blog, it's great to meet you. Good luck with the Challenge! :)

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  2. I grew up in Louisiana, so we always had plenty of "pools" to play in. We live on a mountain now, so not much water collects in our woods/yard. Except a few weeks ago, a flash snow melted, and two boys and a dog found the slushy ground made a perfect wrestling mat. So, I feel your "hot darn mess" pain.

    Also, I've loved the name Declan since the first season of Kyle XY. (One of the characters was named Declan.)

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    1. There's nothing worse than the smell of a wet dog, so I think your pain might be a little worse =).

      I've never seen that show, but now I'm going to have to watch it just for that.

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  3. From one Danielle to another... I remember doing those wonderful childhood things. I wish I could go back and do them again. These are awesome pics!

    Dani @ Entertaining Interests
    #warriorminion

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    1. Thank you! A small part of me wanted to jump in there and play, but then I remembered what cold felt like and decided to just snap some pictures.

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  4. Oh my word, I honestly dont remember that part of childhood, although I was OCD even as a child. My fun consisted of cleaning my not even dirty room, organizing my school papers, and old birthday cards and reading a good book. I can honestly say you maybe my hero and a bit crazy! And I honestly mean that in a very nice way..... I am the mean mom! I hate hate hate mess, and I hate hate hate extra laundry, actually I just hate any laundry so I would not let, allow nor encourage my children to do that if we would so happen to end up with a pond, lake, river, stream or ocean in my yard. I would forbin, threaten and make sure my children understood that they will not even open the back door, not to mention my dog would have to start potting in the front yard cuz you know that he would find that mess and then he would have to live outside till summer cuz there would be no way that hot mess was coming up in this house! Yep Im the super mean mom, we play clean around here LOL! You are seriously my hero!!!

    ReplyDelete

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