Flashback Fridays -the Play House

(Note to my siblings - this is what you get for letting me scan all the slides!!! And yes, I do accept bribes)

Putting together the Munchkin's new "playground" reminded me of the great Play House we had growing up - I recall the A-Frame house on top (that the wasps liked to nest in), and the big sand pit/swing area -can't recall exactly what was under the A Frame although I think it was firewood for some reason.

Here's a great shot of 5 of the 6 of us during the construction phase. Lazy Sister Sue is not in attendance. (I am the cute little one to the front right.)

I wonder if this is the same day my Big Brother Bill dropped me on my head in the grass and caused a major emergency. Seems he was holding me upside down and dropped me in the grass in the back yard. It was about a 2 inch drop and did not hurt, but when I got up my face was all dripping in blood.

Mom and Dad rushed me into the house, and Mom put compresses on my head while Dad tried to call the doctor. No answer (I think it was a weekend - but he was a good country doctor, so you never knew). She lifted the compress to check on my head and saw this long jagged line of blood all across my face - told Dad to grab the keys to drive to the hospital (20+ minutes away) as I was going to need stitches.

As he went to get the keys, she checked on my face again - and then called Dad back and said we did not have to go - it turns out that the jagged "gash" was actually a fine hair that had been covered in blood, and the cut was so very tiny that they never did actually find it at all.

I was probably around 3 or 4 or so at the time - although I am sure my family can chime in and clarify the details. I recall being in my little youth chair in the kitchen at the end of the peninsula with the washcloth on my head - although I am sure with all the scrapes and bangs and such of being a kid in a big active family I might just be recalling a different "kitchen first aid" incident.

I also remember Big Brother Bill searching the lawn to figure out what it was that I had gotten cut on. Never did figure that out either.

But I still give Big Brother Bill a hard time for dropping me on my head in the first place. It's all his fault I am the way I am, right?!??!

Turtle of the Day: Two Turtle-Boys

These are my two turtle boys - the Munchkin and his cousin DragonBen. DragonBen is actually inside a turtle shell on a family vacation to Minnesota, but seeing this photo reminded me that our zoo here in Rochester has a similar shell. I will have to find a time to bring The Munchkin over and see what he thinks of it.

The Munchkin was climbing on a Turtle at Barret's Place, a VERY VERY nice playground near my parents house in Pendleton, SC. He keeps asking to go to the playgrounds around here - but their wide open landscapes with nary a tree in sight and metal structures pale in comparison to this great space.

Even when the temperature was up in the 90's, most of the playground was in the shade and comfortable (of course the Munchkin kept gravitating to the sandbox, the only area in full sun most of the time.) I have extreme playground envy now - and cannot even envision a place in my community where we could build something remotely similar.

I am hoping the Munchkin's backyard "playground" - under the shelter of the black walnut and surrounded by mommy's gardens - will keep him content. And with his turtle sandbox underneath the "fort" we've got everything a playground needs, right? Slide, swings, fort, turtle, pirate wheel and periscope. What else could a little boy want?? (Oh - and Daddy wants to add a flagpole for the pirate flag).