Fireflies

Summer has always been about fireflies for me.







And now Turtle is learning to love fireflies.








She calls them "flyerpies".

 






If she doesn't see fireflies she thinks it is day, and therefore NOT time to go to bed yet.

 






 When you drive in the country at night, the fireflies fly over the fields like little firework displays.








 They also glow for a bit after they hit your windshield.

How to Build a Teepee Style Playhouse

I've been wanting to do this project since last summer!  Although our backyard is north facing, it gets relentless sunshine throughout the entire day with few places for shaded play.  My original idea was to grow vining plants up the poles to provide the shade inside, but for lawnmothering maintenance we left it bare. 

How to Build a Teepee Style Playhouse

1. Buy bamboo poles
2. Determine the size of the structure (we put 2 poles together & had Turtle walk through them to space the doorway poles)
3. Shove the poles into the ground at an angle
4. Tie poles together at the top
5. Stand back & watch your child & other neighborhood children admire your work.

I won't get my "dream" playhouse,  but I have a thrifted sheet that will make a great cover so that the teepee can be shaded during those long, hot summer afternoons.  When we are done playing for the day, the cover can be removed so that the grass inside doesn't completely die.   Speaking of grass, the opening is large enough to get the reel mower through the entrance.  (Guess who will be trimming around the poles with scissors?) Maybe next year I'll get around to planting a sunflower house..........