Little Miss's Backyard Wonderland

So you may have heard about my run around with trying to purchase a climbing structure for Callie :) She really enjoys being outside and climbing on things, so I thought-heck, I'll buy her some used play structures that she can go crazy on!

Craigslist was my first stop!

Back in April, I found a GREAT deal on a climber that had one slide. This family was located in Rochester and were selling it for $25.00 - one heck of a deal (considering they sell them used on CL for $50-$75-I was getting one heck of a deal). Josh and I drove out to Roch, with Callie and the Cavalier to pick this up! How big could it really be!?

Well, it was A LOT bigger than we expected. We took the whole thing apart and SOMEHOW got pieces in the trunk, front seat and then tied to the roof! Callie and I were trapped in the back while Josh drove uncomfortably home :) Oh yeah, about 15 minutes into the ride, I had to go to the bathroom! Sorry about that Josh :)

After we got this home, I cleaned the whole thing down and we put it back together! Callie LOVES playing on it too :) She can't climb up the side yet by herself, but man does she love the slide!

More climbing things -that's what we need! Or so I thought :) So back to Craigslist I went! I had been looking for the Little Tykes 8 in 1 Climber FOREVER! Every time I found one online and emailed about it, I was too late. FINALLY, I had heard back from 2 different people that 2 were available!

So I received all the information from one family in Apple Valley and was going to purchase it/pick it up on a Saturday. She gave me her phone number and address and I was all set! Friday night I decided to email her to make sure everything was still a go; however, she decided to inform me that they - wait for it - SOLD IT! Bitch!

I did what any Shellum girl would do - I emailed her. I didn't swear, but I was very forceful in my email. So now I was back to square one. I told the other lady that I didn't need it - shoot.

So, I decided I would email the 2nd lady anyway. She lived in Champlin-which was much further away, but maybe worth it! HOLY CRAP, SHE STILL HAD IT! So I borrowed my friend's truck on a Saturday and picked up my sister Heather! We loaded it up and were on our way!

While on the highway, my sister commented that a piece of it was flying way up in the air and didn't look like it was tied down very tight. So we pulled over into a parking lot. Yes, we tied this sucker down very good, but we DID NOT tie it to the truck! Genius! So after a lot more tying and knotting, we were set! This sucker was not going ANYWHERE :)

I finally arrived home in Austin later that evening. I'll be honest, taking it out of the truck was much easier than I anticipated! but we were now ready to go!

Josh and I put this baby together and brought it to the backyard for Callie to enjoy :) And enjoy it she does! She likes to go inside the door and close it. She LOVES crawling through the tunnel, and I think she is going to figure out how to climb up to it on her own very quickly. She is getting very strong pulling herself through it as well. She LOVES the two choices of slides on the one tower! One of them is a little raised off the ground, so she FLIES down the slide and then lands right on the ground :) It's perfection!

A couple other things we have for Callie in the backyard:

A friend gave us an old sandbox, so we filled it with sand and toys and put a tarp over it (keeps all the water out of it from this crazy rain we've been having). She loves to play in the sand. She keeps her toys and the sand INSIDE the box, and she doesn't eat it (anymore!) YEAH!

At a friend's house, Callie played on a fun teeter-totter. She loved it so much that I found one on Craigslist for $15.00.

This is Callie's friend Natalie

The Easter Bunny brought Callie her Pink Princess swing as her Easter Basket this year, and she REALLY enjoys swinging!

The yellow disk was here when we moved in, but other, bigger, kids enjoy riding on that one :)

We also bought the red coupe car from a friend, which she thinks is the worlds greatest toy! She loves putting her chalk in the back and her sippy next to her :) She's a silly girl, but that's why we love her so much!

This is Callie's backyard wonderland :) Inviting, isn't it :)

I mean, with a face like this:

How could you NOT want to provide several playful opportunities for her :)