Outdoor Living Made Easy

Our inexperience as parents at the time we bought our house has become grossly apparent over the years, as Alex and Avery have grown into extremely mobile toddlers who rebel against confined spaces and always seem to be going in two different directions. We had no idea what our "kids" would need and we were already overwhelmed by all the challenges of house hunting in Ohio (remember, we were going from secluded mountain living to a suburban neighborhood). So it was actually the small, wooded backyard with a raised deck (somewhat resembling our place in Colorado) that sold us on Hunterwood Lane. We envisioned privacy and late night cocktails among the trees. We did not envision kids running into the creek, playing in poison ivy and having no where to go due to a steep hill and limited grass.

Therefore, outdoor time for us as a family has been challenging these past two summers, so my number one goal this year was to make our outdoor-scapes as kid-friendly as possible (which would then equal adult peace of mind). Here's a look at what we have done:

• Project #1: Pave over the small, unnecessary area of grass between the driveway and the house that I had to continually re-direct the kids from since it only served as a doggy business mine-field.
• Project #2: Extend the deck with a lower level in order to 1) eliminate the steep, five steps (without a railing) that used to sit on a dangerous (think head-splitting) cement landing, and 2) create a non-redneck, outdoor living area where I could sit with friends and still watch the kids play on the driveway. (Kudus and THANK YOU to Grandpa Muse and Great Grandpa Muse for all their time and hard work in building our deck!)
• Project #3: Put in a small (and plastic for easy maintenance) swing set so the kids would have an outdoor play center of their own and I wouldn’t be dragging them out of the Glenwright’s backyard on a nightly basis.

After two months, all projects are finally complete and the past two nights have been extremely enjoyable for all of us outside. Although I have to admit, the biggest gain so far is the over-sized swing set box that Avery likes to set up as an outdoor playpen (which also traps her in a single location.) If I only knew that the solution was so simple, we could have saved some time and money by avoiding construction and buying a summer’s supply of cardboard.