Playing in our "yard"

Most of the photos I take are in our front yard. It is where we chat and play with neighbors daily since it faces their homes. It's a very social area, and the fact we are in one of the farthest apartments from the road, means we are out all the time.

But during small pockets of time when I don't really feel like going out but Madeleine does, I let her play in the back yard. She knows the boundaries of where I can see her and no one goes back there other than us a few hard core gardeners. 

Last weekend Matt and I borrowed a play structure from our unofficial community toy library and brought it back there.  Madeleine was so excited. She's played for a few hours out there every day since.

She's mad that she can't make it go forward only backwards

She's actually playing right now, so I can write this blog post on the steps and enjoy the beautiful Fall weather. It's such a blessing living in a place where I don't have to worry about her running into the road and where the houses are small enough that parents kick their kids outside all day. This little neighborhood was built right after WWII and I wish that we still had neighborhoods planned like this. It really is lovely.

I asked Madeleine to pose and this is what she did.