running around the house

The boys are so happy to be outside.

Watching them running nonstop outside makes me wonder how we made it through this cold winter indoors.  But we did and it feels as great as if we lived the last several months in an ice cave—because we kind of did.  I have swept out the last of the mess from the wood stacks on the porch. Soon we will give the picnic table a fresh coat of paint and we can officially Eat Outside.

They have already logged in quite a few hours in the sandbox.  This is probably #1 on their list of fun right now.

Henry takes water from the brook and tries to make a pond that lasts until the next day.  He makes buildings while his brother smacks the wet sand in the buckets before turning them upside down.  It’s  good cooperation that I hope lasts for a lifetime.

They also love going to the dump with their dad in his old truck.  On this day they also went to a metal yard to sell off some copper wire.  Exciting stuff if you are a boy.

Other favorite stuff these guys like doing outside :

Whiffle Ball

skipping stones

running a big circle around the house while being timed

sticks and all the hundreds of things they do with them

kicking a soccer ball up and down the back hill

planting anything…their apple cores, grapefruit seeds, acorns

making soup for the chickens with weeds and worms and water

All this stuff sounds so boring but it is really what they like, it is pretty much the same stuff the older kids liked doing, too.  Yes they like toys but eventually the toys are cast aside and their imagination takes over. 

When I watch these two boys playing carefree… their happiness is contagious.  I fall more in love with them, with Sawyer’s ears and Henry’s crooked teeth.  They get so dirty with all the mud around.  We wash up and soon after they are sleeping soundly. 

It’s perfect, really.