They're Growing Up

The weather has been beautiful here the past couple of days.  This morning it was raining as we waited at the bus stop, but that quickly passed.  I think we ended up being close to 70 degrees today.  With the weather so beautiful, Brandi wants to be playing outside, which is fine, except that she doesn't really have anything to play with besides her bike, and she refuses to ride it around the neighborhood because of the dogs.

I remember when the kids were little, and we had lots of things, like backyard swing sets, for the kids to play on.  They would spend hours sliding and swinging, working off their energy.  Come bed time, they were ready for some shut eye. Now they are too big for swing sets.  We have graduated to board games and cards.  My youngest can hold her own in rummy and chess.  In fact, she can beat me in chess.  I just don't understand that game.

I am getting ready to do another review for CSNStores, and I'm thinking about trying to find a new game for us.  They have so many choices!  I know Brandi would love this puppet theater:

 And they would all love this croquet set:

I know we would have a lot of fun with this, and it's something we could use in our own yard.  I remember playing this at my grandparents house when I was a kid.  I wonder if I'll remember all the rules?