[Anna] Bruce doesn’t show much interest in many toys but he loves to climb & dig. For his birthday several of us decided to focus on outdoor heavy work activities. Eric and I bought him a dome climber. It’s made of PVC but it doesn’t get hot in the sun and it should be easy to repair. Plus, they’re made locally in Tucumcari so minimal petroleum was used in shipping … at least from the distributor to us. I can’t get into the embedded energy issue … too much deconstruction for my stress levels.

His Nonnie & Deedee salvaged large truck and tractor tires and made an awesome sandbox & climbing arena. The sand was provided by his Auntie Aly. Summer is short in the mountains so we also decided to just set it all up rather than wait till his birthday in July. It has been a hit. Bruce below is hanging upside down and Juney is contemplating how to do that.

Auntie Bel & Juney enjoy the sandbox. Bel helped me put the dome together along with Nonnie. It took longer than the instructions said it would but then we had two little helpers.

Deedee, Bel, & Bruce exercising a different part of the playground. With the climber, dome, sandbox area, kitschy garden art, and windchimes we are developing a really cool little Children’s Garden. We put in six varieties of strawberry for grazing, and gradually we will incorporate other plants (e.g., Russian Mammoth sunflower, vine covered teepee structure, bizarre pumpkins) that will intrigue kids. We’d originally planned on this garden being closer to the Big House but it is needed now by the barn so we’ve modified the grounds’ landscape plan.