The Grass is Always Greener

Our house is surrounded by gorgeous flower gardens that our landlords designed and created. It's really pretty amazing. We do our best to try and keep the plants alive (or at least we try not do them any harm), but we really can't take any of the credit when passersby exclaim over the beauty blossoming around us. In the back, we have a sweet little "postage stamp" of a yard, big enough for our sandbox and a bit of scraggly grass. And it's really all the kids need to keep them well occupied for a day of outside play. But. It's nothing compared to the yard at our neighbor's house across the street.

Zeben looking wistfully over at the neighbor's yard

Not only is their grass greener and more plentiful (and mowed with some regularity), but they seriously have one of the most amazing set-ups that I've seen in downtown Northampton. They have a huge vegetable garden, a greenhouse, a chicken coop (with real, live, free-range chickens!), and an enormous trampoline. Luckily for us, they are also wonderful neighbors, with two kids (ages 4 and 7), who have welcomed us to share the glory of their yard whenever we like. And we take them up on their offer quite a bit.

Really? I can go over there?

Since before he could walk, Zeben has been filled with an unquenchable desire to play in the neighbors' yard. Seriously. Soon after he started crawling last summer, he headed down our driveway toward the street. Curious about what he would do, we decided not to swoop in and redirect him, and instead we just watched (and followed closely behind, of course!). He made a beeline for the neighbors' house, and made it all the way to their gate without once pausing or looking back to see where we were. Surely, this had something to do with the fact that for months he watched his brothers skip across the street first thing in the morning while he remained helplessly strapped to my back, protesting the incredible injustice. But, since learning to walk, he has come to love the neighbors' yard just for what it is, having nothing to do with his brothers and the many hours they spend playing there themselves.

She said yes! I can go! I'm gone!

The first thing Zeben likes to do when we get to the neighbors' is to visit the chickens (or "Kuh-kuhs"). These days, they're usually confined to the chicken tractor (to keep them out of the seedlings in the garden), so Zeben doesn't have to chase them all around the yard to get a good look. He can stand there staring at them for half an hour or longer if given the opportunity.

When he tires of watching the kuh-kuhs, he starts yelling, "bup! Bup! Buh-dup!" (that's Zeben for "jump"), and running toward the trampoline. We let Zeben on the tramp for the first time a couple months ago, and it was quite evident that he had previously spent a lot of time watching the big kids jump on it. He knew exactly what to do. And he loved it. And now he asks to jump at least once a day, and on the days when I say "yes," it is absolutely the best part of his day.

I think that's about as close as I've come to capturing joy with my camera so far.