A break in the rain

It was not raining today - for the first time all week, it seems - so we went out to play in the backyard. I had bought a sand & water table for Abigail (craigslist is my new favorite shopping location) and decided to get it assembled today. Getting the legs on was easy. I like that this table has a tight-fitting lid, to keep leaves and spiders out! Getting sand into it was not as easy. I had a bag of sand in the shed, left over from about 9 years ago, when I first got a sandbox for Frances. The bag was not large, but it weighed 50 pounds! I grabbed a skateboard, lugged the bag up onto it, and had Frances push it across the grass to the concrete.

We put about half of the sand into the table, and Frances kindly contributed some pink and purple "moon sand." She had bought it months ago at Target ("as seen on TV") and it was not as much fun as she had thought it would be, so it was just sitting there in the backyard. Now Abigail has some pretty snazzy looking sand! I found some of our smallest sand/beach toys for Abigail to use in her table. She is holding up a Blockhead - remember the Gumby show? And you may notice that she is wearing a harness with bells on it. A few weeks ago, while I was in the garage bringing in the laundry that had been hanging up to dry, Abigail decided to cross the street all by herself. Our neighbor was out in his front yard, and when I came out of the garage, there was Abigail, across the street, visiting with John! I remembered that I had an Elmo leash from when Frances was little (we only used it once, while changing planes in the Chicago airport). I took the leash part off, and decorated the harness with bells. Now, on the weekends when we are home and going in between the backyard and the house, I can hear Abigail and know that she is still where she is supposed to be! Abby likes her reindeer harness.

While Abigail enjoyed her new sand table, Frances played soccer in the backyard. Our yard is a good size for this neighborhood, but not large enough for a soccer game! About every ten minutes, Frances let me know that she was going around to the alley to retrieve her ball! She is fascinated with soccer these days, although she is still pursuing gymnastic greatness. I told her that this summer, she can play soccer through the recreation program in our city. She plays soccer almost daily at school, so that may be the reason for her recent obsession. Hopefully she won't pull a hamstring or otherwise injure herself while playing soccer - her gymnastic coach would not be pleased!