Spring Break

Every spring break I think we should have a short vacation, or at least a staycation. That would be fun. Instead, this year at least, we worked. And then worked some more.

This shed has been given over to the kids as a play fort. It was pretty decrepit when we moved in, and the last almost ten years haven't been kind.  I told the older kids I would pay for their yearbooks if they would scrape and paint it. 

 Forty-eight hours later, with all of us pitching in, this is the new shed! It's so shiny and tidy. I love it.

 Once the outside was painted the girls decided the inside needed freshening up.

So they and the neighbor child set to work. I don't have a picture of the finished work, and I'm too lazy to go out and take a picture.

Just kidding Grace was reading over my shoulder as I typed, and scurried out to take a picture. You are welcome. This is after they have been playing in it again, hence the mess.

While the girls painted, Ethan power washed the fence. He then stained it. I don't have a picture of the stained fence because I hate the color. Natural Cedar stain looks nothing like cedar, natural or otherwise. It mostly looks like Grandma's harvest gold Tupperware. Why did I paint my fence this awful color? It was an accident. Ethan started it while I was gone, and after a couple panels, stopped. He was a little worried about the color.  I came home and decided it would be too much work to start over, and hoped vainly the color would look better when it was completely dry. So for the next ten years we have a yellow fence. At least it is stained.

                                              

I also made the kids shovel tons of bark mulch and soil and move railroad ties to make a raised garden bed in the backyard.  I'm so excited to start planting this year. I don't know how much my little bed will produce, but it will be a fun learning experience.  You can see my harvest gold fence in this picture. It's even brighter than this in real life.

We didn't spend much time having fun, but we were very productive, and I believe the kids fought less than usual. Maybe I will make them re-landscape the yard every school break.