A barkpicking good time!

Today, we are enjoying a brisk Autumn day! The kids were "chomping at the bit" to get outside...and I was anxious to get them out...so I took a break from my closet organizing task for Tackle it Tuesday and bundled them up and went out.

First, we collected all the sticks. We always have a bunch because our trees are old...and there are a lot of them. Nothing cuter than a one year hauling a twig to a pile. Emma was fascinated with the corner of the garage where the leaves land. Ewww..dirty. I forced them away.

Next, we took turns going down the slide. Caleb loves this new activity. He can't quite climb up by himself...or maybe MomE's just paranoid. I lift him to the top rug and he waddles over to the slide and sits and *whoop* slides down. Boy, the littler they are the faster they fly down that thing!

So, I decided all was well...and they were playing nicely with the trics and sticks...so I sat on the porch and worked on a paper project. They seemed very focused on digging in the flower bed with old measuring spoons. Sounded fun...and then Emma says, "Mama, Cawub eatin' poop." Oh joy...so I jump up and jog out to the tree and discover he's tasted a mouth full of mulch...not poop...thank goodness. I flick out as much as I can...comment on how "ucky" that is...and then I notice...they've been having a barkpicking good time. Yup, my tree is plucked free of all it's bark from about Emma height down. Oh the poor thing...I sure hope it doesn't kill it. It's a big tree...I'm sure it'll be fine...right?

Hope ya'll are having a barkpicking good time today too!