I'm Haunted...

by the smell of dirty diapers.  It's every where I go.  Every room, every store, every park, every article of clothing I think has a funky smell.  Sometimes I go searching for a hidden diaper under the sink, in the garbage, in the washing machine etc...  I never find anything and I'm usually light headed from taking repeated large deep breaths.  Clark claims everything smells normal  but I'm not sure he's the best resource since his smeller doesn't work all that great.  Our diaper pail has sat outside on our back patio for well over a  year now and has since been moved but I believe that the smell of diapers has penetrated the paint on the outside walls and maybe even the window panes.  Is it possible?  It sounds insane but I believe it.  Every time I open a window or door, I smell it.  Maybe the smell has been absorbed by the dirt and grass too.  I moved the pail around the side of the house for a couple weeks but yesterday was garbage day and I threw it away.  I'm haunted remember?   So NO MORE diaper pail or diapers in or around the house.  Maybe it's time for potty training.  :)  After I threw it away, I proceeded to take some cleaner and sponge clean the outside of our house surrounding the patio.  It was like I was releasing all the absorbed smells while scrubbing because the smell seemed amplified.  However, I think it worked.  We'll see...

Enough diaper talk though.  I need to talk about our OTHER patio.  The one that hasn't been infiltrated by funky smells.  Clark's been mulling over what he wants to do with the side yard since forever.  There was patchy grass and lots of dirt.  Nothing to get excited over and a huge mess when the kids would play over there.  So memorial day weekend he whipped a sandbox together (literally it only took him a couple hours), dug a hole, leveled out the ground, laid bricks, threw down new sod, and voila!

I wish I had done a before picture because really it was just a bunch of dirt. Now it's an awesome area for the kids and shady and cool most the day! Obviously sand can be messy but at least it's in the backyard and not in the car. Unfortunately we've had hurricane rains this week so the sand is wet and unplayable. We're excited to try it out though!  Thanks Clark!  I guess this means me and the kids will need to get Clark something EXTRA special for Father's Day this year.  :) 

This stage for the trio could be summed up in one word:  parks.  We go to the park everyday because I know they will burn 3x the energy there than I could get them to burn at home playing with me.  However, park play is quite the science for us.  We can only go to certain parks since safety is a huge issue when I'm the only one around.  No parks close to creeks or roads.  Parking has to be relatively close.  The play structure can only have a maximum of TWO scary openings they could fall out of.  No bridges on the structures unless it's totally closed on the guardrails, you get the idea.  One person vs. three toddlers with little concept to height and falling can be disastrous.  As soon as I start feeling overwhelmed in any way, I pack them up and go.  I have done ample online research (close to 40 parks) for the parks around here and found two with JUST toddler structures that fit all my criteria above.  Maybe one day I'll be able to sit on the bench and read a book while the kids play.  One day...

For now, here are a couple pictures.  We're thinking of getting Zachary into gymnastics.  He was working on his Iron Cross at the park this week...

The kids liked the little ride-on toys at this park but unfortunately we won't be going back.  Disaster potential rating was pretty high and I was nervous even with Clark there to help.

The next couple videos were just too cute not to share. Caleb starting counting to ten this week and does it perfectly without help. Of course I can never catch it on camera but I got most of it. Make sure to listen to number seven. So cute. The other video is a quiz for Leah on everyone's names. She got a 75% though because she couldn't say her own.  Cute anyway.