Peterson Town Center

We've been searching for a gently-used playhouse for the kids since last summer; such things do not exist around here. We've tried ebay, Craig's List, classifieds, garage sales - nothing! We saw this week's Toys R Us flyer with the new Little Tikes Town Center on sale and knew it was time to invest.

Little did we realize, we didn't need to buy the whole playhouse; we only needed the box! Silly Parents!!

After Hannah's pre-op on Monday, we stopped by the store for our big purchase. While the kids were napping, I slid the massive box out of the truck and left it in the garage. Pete called to see if we were able to get the playhouse; he jokingly (at least according to him) suggested that the kids and I put it together after naps. The more I thought about it, the more determined I was to put it together. I unpacked everything from the box, and when the kids woke up, we carried the pieces to the backyard and got to work!

First, the kids showed me how to set up the playhouse and how to use the new tools - the house came with a screwdriver and hammer.

Hannah didn't care that it wasn't put together; a girl can play peek-a-boo anywhere!

I was making great progress and the kids APPEARED to be playing so well; that's when I realized I was missing a few necessary pieces. I looked but to no avail. Finally I asked Hunter if he had seen them. Yes, he saw them all right; "They're right here, Mommom" (right here meaning inside the wall where he is so sweetly playing). Okay, how do I get those out? Not sure, I'll just worry about it later.

Right about the time I had done all I could without the missing pieces, Pete came home from work. He tried to get them but no luck. We tried several different strategies, still nothing worked. My last resort - chopsticks. (Yes, we do still eat with chopsticks on occasion.) It worked!! It may sound silly, but it was a very proud moment for me; it's the little things in life - literally!

Thanks to Matt and Sherry for the great chopstick lessons! They took us to dinner on our first night in Japan and convinced gullible, naive me that restaurants in Japan did not have forks. FYI - restaurants in Japan do have forks; you just have to ask! Who knew that lesson would pay off in such a big way several years down the road!

Now that we had all the pieces, we could finish the house. The kids couldn't wait to be able to play, and play they did - the next day. It was well after 7:00 when we finished the house, too late and too cool for little people to be outside.

Since the house has a sports wall, we are now set for basketball and soccer and hockey. It's going to be one fun summer in the Peterson backyard!