We are spring breaking this week, so to speak. Spring break comes so early for us that my girls can’t even bare to wear shorts yet. They try, they freeze and I say I told you so.
Then they beg for a campfire. Partly because it means eating smores. Partly because it’s a favorite thing to do at my parents house where we are staying this week. It’s too cold for the beach still, so Atlanta (or the suburbs) we went. 
Before I left with the girls (leaving husband and dog behind – sorry guys) we kicked off the spring break week with impromptu fun in our backyard, with 10 kids, and one big “wing it” dinner alongside our new sandbox. It’s 10×10 feet and holds 40 bags of play sand. I had our landscapers build it earlier this month while they were working on a few other projects we put off last year, which were originally designed to coincide with our home renovations.
The girls quickly made the sandbox into “a beach” with blankets and umbrellas. And then their friends joined in, naturally. The kids on bikes and scooters just kept showing up – as you can see in the photo below that includes our new garage parking pad.
To show you how we roll in real life – this was the scene of the dinner that two families threw together for 10 kids and five adults. Just as I was thinking about making dinner that evening, my neighbors swooped in with arms of food took over my kitchen/patio. Suddenly we had a fish fry happening, with a big salad and scallops, corn on the cob, wedges of cheese, cantaloupe, raw carrot sticks and a bucket of olives (literally). When we ran out of food someone threw hotdogs on the grill. And that’s just the way we like it. Crazy chaos, and a home full of life inside and out.
The three boys went to another area in the yard to eat, in boy peace. However tables full of girls is usually the scene here.
My observer child is the one with the camera above. It suits her personality and learning style perfectly. I like her eye for detail and how she captures kid life. She took the following two photos. 
The sandbox happily kept 10 kids busy while the adults enjoyed time on the patio. The zip line in our backyard and bounce house going helped too. But I LOVE a good classic sandbox, lots of kids, girls, boys, young and old – mixing it up. It’s attracting the neighbors over like I would imagine a backyard pool would do. A sandbox – so classic, so simple and so fun!
One more picture my middle girl is proud of..
We are looking around the corner to spring. Because March 22 is really around the corner! I’m most excited to get some greens in the ground in our newly created four raised vegetable beds that were part of the landscaping project.
I didn’t grab a picture of the new garden beds yet but I will soon, as we plan what to plant and share more about our plans. Basically it’s taking the space of what was our little back door garden, and expanding on the concept.
The vegetable beds are made from the same stone as the sandbox and sit in my side yard right next to out sidewalk. Which makes it feel like urban gardening. The garden placement on our property was solely determined by it being the only place we get enough sun to have a garden.
My little urban garden reminds me of living on 10th Street in Midtown Atlanta where I had tomatoes growing in our front yard and the homeless people ate them, sitting on the retaining wall bordering the sidewalk where my black ally cat perused the perimeter. Neither the cat nor me cared. I figured they needed those tomatoes more than I did and she got a little attention from the deal.
We still have the cat. And yesterday I drove by that old house during a spring break trip to the city, and my old stomping grounds. It looked very different but seeing my old Midtown friend was just the same. We laughed, talked, and lunched, and shared the same sandwich we did while pregnant together 10 years ago. Which seems like forever ago, when I could never have imagined being surrounded by SO many kids all the time.
Now my girls are getting older and they will each have their own vegetable bed to grow, and cook the food they harvest. All of this will produce more chaos and parties to come. I’m sure of it. Just the way I like it.
And while they are getting older, we still have the matching sand box to keep the little kid days going. And a BIG baby pool in the backyard to come, as soon spring gets here for real.
