One transition happened at the end of the cul-de-sac right before the holidays. The VERY nice old man who used to live in that big old house sold to a family with 4 kids. The kids living there now are all older than ours. Their youngest is a boy in 8th grade. By all accounts they are a very nice, normal family. Well, as normal as you can be with 4 kids! (Ha! I'm SO allowed to say that!!)
As a gigantic 6th grader, Spencer is bigger than the 8th grader and despite having very little in common, they have hit it off. This is pretty exciting for us because Spence doesn't have many friends that he just hangs out with. He's not really home enough to hang out much and with a built in playmate in Quinn, we've never tried very hard to do things like play dates and sleepovers and all that stuff. I would never call Spencer anti-social, but he doesn't have a posse. You know...
Well with Christian moving in down the street, the big boys have begun just hanging out with a group of boys from the neighborhood. There's also a kid from a neighboring sub-development that must cut across country to get over here. When I say they just hang out, I mean they JUST hang out. Outside! Sometimes they take lacrosse sticks. Somethings they take music. Sometimes they take nothing. Sometimes they take shovels. They have been building some kind of tree fort. I can't actually see them from our house, but they can hear us when we holler, so they can't be very far away.
Pictures the boys took of each other in their "no moms allowed" fort.
I'm thrilled that they are 1) hanging out with other kids and 2) spending SO much more time outside. I think they have easily spent more time outside in the last 6 months than they did in the 2 years prior. (Sports practices not counting... because we DO spend a ton of time outside...)
This new behavior is also a little sad because just as they are starting to enjoy our backyard, and the wetlands that we back up to, the area behind us is getting ready to see a ton of new development. Like so many other places in Forsyth County, that land has been sold and will be turning into a sub-division with 60+ houses. This isn't (or at least shouldn't be) surprising because Forsyth County is still one of the fastest growing counties in the entire country. Road construction, new schools, and new sub-divisions are a very normal part of life here. But this particular development is hitting, quite literally, very close to home.
We are lucky in that just behind our property is a small stream and 2 ponds. This area is all classified as wetlands, so it can't be disturbed. We will not have any new neighbors DIRECTLY behind us, but there will be people back there. Our days of seeing nothing but an empty field are just about gone. I'm sure the boys will have a blast watching all the activity happen back there over the next few years. I will do my best to keep them from causing too much trouble back there! I just hope the makeshift tree fort makes it!
Here's a picture of our backyard. You can see the silt fences they have installed just this week. That means land clearing can't be far behind. In this picture you can also see the 2 ponds. There won't be anyone on our side of those ponds. After the leaves come out on all those trees, you really won't be able to see the field anymore either.
Have a great spring weekend everyone! We are looking forward to a visit from Grandma Sharon and Aunt Karen. We're planning on dragging them all over north Atlanta for lacrosse games and practices. Luckily for them, we don't have any all-day events this weekend so we will get to avoid the PB&J at the park "dinner".
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