More on Project Play Yard

The weatherman promised yet ANOTHER round of rain and storms this afternoon, and according to the radar, it will be right on schedule. Knowing that the rain would spoil yet another afternoon of potential progress on "Project Play Yard", I attempted to get something done this morning.

The back yard is a sopping wet mess. I spent an hour outside with Olivia, trying to fill the garden boxes with topsoil. She was entertained as I emptied the first three bags. She stomped around in the loamy dirt and put handfuls of it in her hair. Then she got bored and decided to play on her playset.

I guess I can't blame her. I mean, we DID expect that she would find it to be the main backyard attraction, or we wouldn't have gone through the trouble of putting it up. But having her on it meant that I had to stop what I was doing to make sure she got up the ladder safely and down the slide safely. I would usually have enough time to dump out one more bag or rake one small section of the box before dropping everything to chase after Olivia again.

Needless to say, it was slow going.

After awhile, she got interested in her water table toys, which were temporarily taking up space on our patio while we finish the sand box. Seeing the inch of rainwater that had accumulated in the water table overnight, she decided to take off her shoes and take a swim. I don't know why, but when there is water in the table, she finds the temptation to climb up and sit in the water to be irresistible.

So, the next thing I know, she's running toward the playset in muddy socks with no shoes. I took off her socks, which led to wet and muddy feet, a slip off the ladder and some tears. Somehow, we managed to fill in and rake two of the three boxes before I lost my patience. I hosed Olivia off (literally) before we went in for a bath.

If you saw my shoes and her feet, you would know just how incredibly wet and soppy it is in our backyard. And we're expecting another 2-3 inches of rain before Sunday. Yay, Spring.

I spent twenty minutes trying to wash and then COMB dirt out of Olivia's hair. It's like a net. I expect to be doing the same with sand all summer.

I finished filling the last garden box after Olivia went down for her nap. After emptying twenty-five 40 lb bags of dirt, I'm ready to call it a day.

I guess the rain gives me a good excuse.

And there's the first rumble of thunder...