I’ve already known this for awhile of course, but the simple fact of the matter is that we desperately need a yard. At this point I figure it doesn’t really matter much whether that yard comes attached to a house, a townhouse, or a lower duplex, as long as it’s there and it’s ours.

We’re lucky. Our apartment complex surrounds a fairly large courtyard and we can play down there, but it’s not fenced in, so there’s always a complete inability for me to completely relax. I’ve tried taking a book downstairs with me while the kids play ball or pick up pine cones, but I just can’t read because I’m always watching to make sure they’re in sight and not headed for the busy street. Still, we are lucky because other apartments and condo buildings on our street don’t have much in the way of grass at all.

We’re also lucky because we can walk to our park in five minutes, and the park is bordered by woods. The park is small and it’s very inconvenient in the dead of summer because there are NO TREES whatsoever in the actual play area (I wish I could pack up the park near my parents and bring it over here because it’s a nice size, has a lot of great equipment, and a ton of trees spread out). The lack of shade makes it really difficult to spend much time there once the sun is blazing hot and the humidex is sky-high. Also, the woods have been shrinking bit by bit each year, but at least they’re still there and it’s fun to go walking in them – it helps to appease the fact that I would give anything to essentially live in the middle of nowhere. I envy people who live out in the country with woods galore surrounding them.

There’s also another apartment complex about a five minute walk from here that has a great courtyard full of trees and rocks and benches and grass and sometimes we like to go there, even though I feel a bit weird about playing in a courtyard that I don’t pay for with my rent.

The thing is, though, although we’re lucky to have the courtyard and we’re lucky to have a park and some woods so close by and a fun courtyard within minutes, it’s not the same as a yard. A yard would let me relax. If we had a yard I would bring my laptop outside and do my work in the shade while the kids ran around. I would sit and read a book with my feet propped up while the kids played. I would splash in a pool with them. It would be different.

Going outside requires a great deal of prep work. There’s no bathroom at the park so we have to make sure everyone has peed at least once (if not twice). We have to bring snacks, drinks, toys, etceteras and lug them with us. It’s certainly no huge ordeal, and I realize this is definitely a first world complaint when you think about third world kids playing with broken nails and bits of rubber from a blown out tire. But it still means that if someone has to pee or is thirsty after the last juice box is gone, or if it’s lunch time, we have to pack everything back up and head for home.

If we lived somewhere with a yard, we could run in and out as needed. Hungry? Go in and grab some fruit from the counter. Thirsty? There’s water in the fridge, go get some! What? You want the soccer ball instead of the beach ball and the bubbles instead of the jump rope? They’re right inside the door, go ahead! Are you jumping like that because you need to pee? Don’t be silly, go to the bathroom and come back out!

I know that it means we’d be outside so much more than we already are.

On Friday we picked Hayley up from school and we had to get a few things from the Dollar Store (I <3 the Dollar Store) and Hayley wanted to get a little set that came with two plastic golf clubs and two balls. We bought them and then decided to drop by to see George's parents since they live a few blocks away from us. When we got there, they weren't even home, but George called them on their cell and said we'd just hang out in the back yard for awhile.

It was great. George has a key so we were able to get the kids a snack and something to drink and we had access to a bathroom. Meanwhile, the kids played golf (they decided that while it was fun, Wii Golf is much easier!), picked up fallen branches and tossed them in the woods, and did somersaults.

We were there for over an hour, just playing out back and hanging out outside, and the fact that we could go in when we needed to was a stark comparison to the park or the courtyard (which is four floors below our apartment, a bit of a pain). When his parents got home, we went in for about ten minutes, then went home, but it was the chance to play in an enclosed yard that made the difference to the kids. I didn’t have to keep an eye on them as much (other than to make sure they weren’t hurting each other or digging in the garden), and I could relax and take pictures more easily. I thought about how much fun it would be to have Pearl out on her long leash that attaches to clothes lines (she can’t run free unless it’s REALLY fenced in 100% because Beagles just have too much of a habit of bolting).

So it’s official. We need a yard. I don’t care as much about the building sitting on the yard, just as long as that yard is closed in so the kids can play to their hearts’ content. It would make the upcoming summer a whole different ball game.

Anyone got a house they’d like to rent out?