The Boy Equation

One boy equals half a man.

Two boys equal half a boy.

Or so the saying goes. What do four boys equal? A cleared out redwood grove! Before our swim party on Sunday, some boys asked if they could come over and "help us get ready." We knew what that meant - a great excuse to come early and get in some extra swim time.

But help is help so we said sure, come over early. We got about 45 minutes out of them, which times four equaled 3 man boy hours. Enough to clear out our really messy redwood grove, buried in sticks and stones that could break some bones.

The work of four boys

The rewards of hard work

So where did people go to hang out? Under the nicely cleared out redwood grove? No, they went out to the really scary part of the yard, the part we are letting go back to nature. Where sticks and stones are just waiting to break some bones. Where old stuffed animals are becoming part of the mulch. I just love this picture of these guys out there with the newborn baby. I think the baby's uncle is sitting on our very precarious fire pit. Are they teaching the little guy their barbeque secrets? Who knows, it's a guy thing.

The impromptu teeter-totter was completely kid invented. I was surprised how much fun they had just tearing around the yard playing with sticks and stones. No bones were broken, but we really need to get some proper toys for the next party.

"We're Moldovan. We don't need no stinkin' toys!"

An after party surprise - beer we didn't buy!

An after party surprise - dog in the garbage!

"Playdate at the neighbors, my foot. I missed a party!"