What we do when we are not at the pool

It all started with, "mom, can we use the slip-n-slide in our yard?"  I said sure, but wondered briefly where exactly they would put it.  When I finally looked outside, we had this going on.  Not much I can say at this point, so I locked the back door and told them when they were through to come in through the garage.  One of the girls was wearing all white, not a great idea, but she said they were her sister's clothes so it was all good.

They finally ditched the slip-n-slide and grabbed some garbage sacks and rode those down.  They had some trouble staying on the sacks, so they went to just sliding down on their bums.  After about 15 minutes the rest of the gang got home from the pool.  After standing on the deck in amazement they all joined in, except Jubilee who thought we were all crazy and went to play Wii.  It kept them going for over an hour, and they have cleaned most of the mud out of the house.

We have had several people ask us how we are planning to landscape our yard.  As you can see it  presents some landscaping challenges.  Not only that, but landscaping hills can get very spendy.  To the left of this lovely water slide is the dump truck area that Soso has created.  Currently it has an excavator, two dump trucks, and various pick-ups in different stages of being loaded and unloaded.  Soso needs to have someplace to use a shovel.  We went to my dad's one summer.  He is retired and has a beautifully landscaped lawn.  I told Soso to go outside and play.  He came back about 15 minutes later and asked "Where's the dirt?"  I mean really, how are you supposed to play with trucks in grass?  I keep telling our visitors that we are landscaping, it's called zero scaping.  Anything I try to plant on this hillside will be dug up or slid over, so I think I will wait a few years.  I will probably wait until we need to sell the house, and then throw bark over it, and let the next folks do what they want with the hill.

For now, this ugly hillside provides hours of entertainment.  The kids see endless potential in their back yard.  We have slid on it with plastic toboggans in the summer, done various mudslides, and it is always being dug into somewhere.  I like to call it user friendly and low maintenance.  I don't have to mow it, or water it.  So the kids bring in several pounds of dirt sometimes, I'm sure this story will come up for years.  "Remember the time mom let us make a mudslide in the back yard?"  I love those stories from my childhood, and I want my kids to have fun memories of summer vacation, especially if they don't involve me packing camping equipment.