Summer Wonderland

In dreaming of clear blue summer days I have been on a quest to create a summer wonderland in our backyard. Since Lydia loves to swing I wanted to find the Little Tikes Swing Castle which has a little swing, little climbing wall and little slide. It also has a little steering wheel and little telescope in case we want to play little pirates. I refused to pay full price so I search high and low for weeks at all the kids consignment shops in the area and finally I found one that had it in Palm Harbor. I diligently went there and acquired the coveted playground piece.

Last summer I was obsessed with outdoor living so Eliot and his folks built a great patio. We now have a wonderful grill, a table, chairs and an umbrella. We even have a fire pit for those cool Florida summer nights (insert chuckle here); mostly for s'mores making and Eliot likes to burn things. We even have safe lawn darts. The garage has a futon, dart board and extra frig filled with refreshing beverages thus the adults are all set.

The child friendly backyard still needed a few things. I considered what sort of water element I wanted to provide Lydia. I kind of wanted one of those old school hard plastic pools we had when we were kids but the only thing I could seem to find was blow up ones so I opted for a tiny baby pool for her. The last thing on the list was a tent. A portable pop open easy tent that can be used at the beach as well. I did my research and ordered the Genji from Amazon.

When it arrived at the house I was so excited that I dragged the over-sized packing box in with a little help from a friend. I popped open the tent in less than 2 seconds in the living room. It was perfect! Easy as pie, just poof, it was up! It came in it's own carrying case, simply perfect for Florida beach and backyard fun! It's long enough for Eliot to lay in and I can almost stand in it. You can open both sides so you have the wind blowing through your hair and still protected from the blistering sun! I put Lydia inside and she seemed happy too. Hooray! Except for one tiny detail. I couldn't seem to get it back in it's handy case. I tried and tried. I almost poked an eye out. I figured it was an easy instant guest room.

New Mommy Mantra:
         You don't need a guest room in the kitchen
         You don't need a guest room in the kitchen
         You don't need a guest room in the kitchen