(Finally) Wheeee!

Todd did it. Last Sunday, with assistance from his dad, he constructed the playground of Marley's and Rudy's dreams. He's still got to add on the roof and the rope ladder, but it's pretty much done, and what I now see out my kitchen window and mudroom door is such a sweet and happy sight. On Monday afternoon, Marley and I had lunch up in the fort after Rudy was tucked in for her nap, and I brought up a celebratory Magner's and a bag of potato chips (Lay's Carolina Barbecue, which are so tangy and sweet and salty, and potato chips aren't even my thing) and pretended, for about two minutes, it was a Room of My Own.

And then yesterday I wanted to see what our scoundrel cat Oliver would do if I placed him up in the fort, and the answer is: pace back and forth and peer out over the ladder and slide with jaded arrogance that nearly disguises the confusion he feels about getting down. And Rudy behaves the same way, except I suppose her looks down the slide are more about hijinks and getting a laugh then they are about lazy boredom. [On Sunday, before the slide was even bolted down, she ran a steady circuit up the ladder and down the slide, all gleeful and proclaiming gladly and then matter-of-factly: "Wheee! Whee." But then she sped down too fast, a little out-of-control, and since then, she hasn't wanted to slide down on her own. Oh, Toot.]

We went back outside this morning, which was the very first morning we've been home this month that has NOT involved a frenzied and/or grumpy exit due to swimming lessons, doctors' appointments, baby-sitting, transportation for my mother, or the one beach playdate we managed to wrangle with Liz, Will, and Co. My first morning of nothing, and it is the last weekday of the month. So I've been up to a lot, and the whole Stay-at-Home thing is a misleading misnomer. Except for this morning. When I collapsed on the couch with my coffee and my girls and flipped between "Tom and Jerry" (for Marley) and "Elmo's World" (for Rudy) while they leaned into each other and munched on Kix like it was popcorn. I love, by the way, when Marley calls a single puff, a "kick."

This lasted for a luxurious hour, and then after some more snacking and clean-up, we went into the backyard to play on our playground, which still seems so deluxe and totally beyond our budget. (But it's second-hand, and even after replacement parts and stain, it still cost us less than twenty percent of its original price. Thank goodness I married Clever Todd, who I really, really want to dress as Handy Manny for Halloween.)

And as I was telling Bean and Toot this morning, when you have your own playground, you can run out there in your nightie whenever you feel like it. You can swing and slide with no pants or shorts over your diaper, and who cares? It was that kind of morning, and hoo boy I needed it. I think Marley and Rudy did, too.