No Yard - No Problem

Alright so I've never actually uttered those words - nor am I likely to in the near future. However, the other day the kids and I went on one of our "exploring walks". I grabbed my camera and taking pictures of them got me to thinking.... "Would I come outside and play with them as much as I do if I didn't have to?" I hope so, because some of these memories are precious. I hope I remember even after we have a yard to come out and play with and watch my kids play. because we will have a yard someday - sooner rather than later right??? - question is directed at the universe as a whole...Here are some of our favorite spots and stuff to do...Check out the flowers - we're working on not picking them.
She wants to be big so bad it hurts sometimes.
Playing in the "jungle" so named during an obsession with jungle book. Now the tree is more likely a rocket or a great place for hide and seek.
Sit on one of the two walls and have a snack. Anna loves to sit on stuff in general. Right now our exploring walks usually last about half a block because she has to sit on everything that looks about the right height. It's also way fun to notice the different stages of my kids. Anna likes to stop and look at EVERYTHING. Josh is past that, and actually doesn't like to walk that much anymore, he'd rather stay in one spot and pretend. It's so fun to see the world through their eyes.

There's a couple "secret paths" right by our house. That day this was jail for Aladdin. I was supposed to be the mean guard and stop him from escaping, which was difficult with a camera. Aladdin was not too pleased with my efforts.

We typically try to get in to all of the neighboring buildings - Anna is never happy when they don't answer her knocking. She has become an intense, fiesty little thing who knows what she wants, when she doesn't get it, she literally throws herself on the ground and kicks her feet and screams. I seriously thought that only happened in cartoons. It usually doesn't last too long though.

We must of course drop our snack on the ground and then pick it up and eat it, along with a rock or two. Builds their immune system - that's what I like to tell myself.

Different day - more of our favorite places. Josh and his friends like to pretend this area is a zoo or a place to hide from mean guys. Right now it's a great place to teach little sister pat-a-cake.
You can't actually see it, but this is the "Humpty Dumpty Wall" that they like to walk on, and fall off of while singing Humpty Dumpty.
Walking on walls and curbs is a favorite past time in general. Not sure why Josh had so much trouble with the balance beam during gymnastics with all his practice...
This picture makes me giggle, "Mom please no more pictures!!!" I still have yet to get a good picture of them together. This is right in front of our house, what you can't see is the big bush that is currently the favorite, it is usually superman's castle, but can be a rocket. We've recently had to have quiet a few talks about not tearing the branches off of the bush though. I wasn't paying attention one day and ended up with a whole pile of branches - hopefully the manager won't notice.

After our outside adventure we came in and had a picnic on the floor with toothpicks - yes Amber I totally copied that off your cousin's blog - and it was a big hit. Who knew my kids would eat a lunch of fruit and beans (justin was out of town with the car it was all I had) with such excitement?

Days like this help me remember why I do what I do....:)