Ode to the Park

Not a half mile from our house is the Mountain View City Park.  We've done it all at the park.  We've played soccer, baseball and football, eaten picnics, thrown sand in our hair, fallen off the monkey bars, vandalized the trees and flowerbeds in search of crab-apples and lady bugs, played pioneers, caught crawdads, searched for treasure, lost shoes and baseball mitts, rode bikes around the trails, made new friends, fought with old friends over the swings, flipped out of the swings, stomped in puddles, thrown rocks at cars and napped at the park.  Anyway, the kids have done all of those things.  I've done some and observed it all while parked at the park.  I've whiled away many an afternoon with good friends solving all the worlds problems while our kids played at the park.  I'll miss "doing the park" when we move.  Of course, I can still drive in and meet up with the gang, but it won't be the same as walking across the cross walk together and complaining loudly about the out-of-town drivers (I'm looking at you, Utah) who don't slow down enough while 3 mothers herd 13 children across the street.  I'll miss you when I'm gone, but in the meantime, Park, this one's for you.

Tag enjoying some spring sunshine at the park.

Sport and Elli and Harper Linford found a mud puddle at the park.

Mud Creatures

Almost unrecognizable.  And I was washing dirt out of his hair and ears for a solid week.

    

In the Beginning...

We finally finalized on our land in April and our first order of business was to dig a makeshift fire pit and roast some hot dogs.  Since we weren't quite ready to start building we decided to put our anxious energy into planting a garden.

We sprouted several seeds in egg cartons before moving plants outside.  If you look closely you'll see Sport's pet worms "fertilizing" the seeds.

When the weather started to warm up, aka, it stopped snowing, we, aka Brandan, tilled up a section of pasture to turn into garden.

The garden spot and our lot completely unmolested, as of yet.

Next on the list was the percolation test so we could get a septic system designed so that we could apply for our building permit.  If I've learned anything about building a home its that everything chases its tail.

We borrowed a small backhoe from the Micheli ranch and Brandan and the older boys dug our test holes. Sis cried in the van because the backhoe bounced around a bit.  Sort of a lot.  Brand is a little out of practice.

The kids loved the dirt pile the holes created.  We were pretty proud of our pile until Jared showed up and turned our mountain into a mole hill.

Tiny dirt pile.

He has arrived! And he let the boys help.  That's Dash in there at the controls.

Sport digging the foundation.

Sport, Dash and Jared.

Colt "helping" with the digging.

Now that's a dirt pile! Sport and Colt standing on the peak.

Sis scaled the sides of the hill and nearly rolled into the bottom of the hole a couple of times.

 We are grateful for all Jared's help and can't wait to really get rolling on the house!

It's The Final Countdown

The boys, Brandan included, had a great year, but everyone (and I mean everyone - I could not pack one more lunch!) was excited for school to end.

At the end of April, the elementary hosted an art auction.  The boys both submitted their art and then we went down and bought it.  I think the school has really caught on to something...

Dash at his last pack meeting.  He finished the Wolf requirements and will start scouts again in the fall as a bear cub.

The boys on the last day of school.