Weekend Adventures of the Throw-Away Child

We spent the weekend having fun in the sun.  Or at least, as much fun as you can have in the upper-80's-that-feel-like-upper-90's-because-of-intense-humidity. 

It was all made possible by a Walmart kiddie pool.

Sam and I set it up for the kids right after breakfast on Saturday morning.  The instructions said you needed 3 adults for setup, and we quickly found out why.  You needed at least four arms to hold the sides up as it filled with water, and you needed (at least) one adult to keep the three year old and one year old from laying on the sides, letting all of the water out, and completely counteracting any progress you had previously made.  Unfortunately for us, we had two adults....and Ben, who was absolutely convinced that someone needed to physically hold the hose at all times.  So really, we had two adults and one of Ben's arms.  Needless to say, there were no extra arms available to take pictures of this particular endeavor.   

Abby was verbally coachable for the most part.  Sarah not so much.  That's when we resorted to a high-chair and all you can eat Cheerios for the one year old, as provided by her older sister.

Hours of fun were had by the two older kids in the pool.  It was the perfect diversion for them as Sam and I capitalized on Sarah's naptime to work on the continuing playground project.  Undertakings of this magnitude always take longer than we anticipate, but especially when you are working around three children one of whom is a one year old.

It didn't always work out that the one year old would sleep as long or as frequently as we had hoped.  We tried letting her roam about freely for a bit to see how she would do.  While I think she loved it, we decided that free roam was probably not the way to go after removing countless acorns, grass, and an entire handful of Georgia red clay from her mouth (the latter of which Sam contended was at least good for her iron level).

By the end of the evening, our beloved third child had played so hard, her clothes had started to fall off.

She loved every minute of it.

(This picture earned her the nickname "Throw-Away Child".)

And the older two had an okay time too...

And whether it looks like a good eight hours of work over the course of two days or not, the playground project continues to progress...

It was a perfect weekend.

(And now...It's Monday.)