outside until the lights come on...

Some of my favourite childhood memories revolve around the small crescent where I grew up.  We moved to that street from another province when I was 5 years old and stayed for 7 years.  Those years were spent playing outside with the neighbourhood kids until all hours, our parents gathered on one porch chatting while we played hide-and-go-seek, rode our bikes and hung out at the playground at the end of our street.  That's the childhood I remember.

Fast forward *ahem* many years, now I live on a small street with my own kids.  And nothing makes me happier than seeing them outside playing with the kids who live on our street.  Some of them go to the same school, others don't but everyone gets along so nicely.  We've had a few good friends move from our street so the friendships have changed a bit over the years, but one thing doesn't change and that is my kids LOVE being outside playing.  The girls are out front playing chalk or in one of the backyards (often ours!) catching bugs and playing in the playhouse.  The boys are on bikes or scooters.  Being almost 11 means Kyle has a bit more freedom and can roam the whole street and be at his friend Zach's house which is out of sight.  The girls are restricted to a boundary of our house to 3 houses down where these 2 sweet girls live and get along so well with Jillian and Leah.

I'd be lying if I didn't add sometimes the chaos of kids in and out of the house and constant knocking on the door asking for Kyle or Jillian drives me just a bit crazy at times.  But overall it makes me happy to see my kids getting to enjoy the same kind of carefree childhood I enjoyed.  I just make sure the freezer is stocked with freezies the fridge with juice boxes to keep everyone happy!

The girls doing gymnastics and sharing blueberries in the backyard