"I Go Fishin' Wit Pa-pa"

Lincoln ADORES his Pa-pa (my dad). I don't know what it is, but it's adorable how the two of them have their own special connection. Everyday, before his nap, Lincoln asks me, "I go fishin' wit Pa-pa, Ma-ma?" This is their thing, fishing.

My parents have an awesome piece of property about 30 minutes away from us and they have about 3/4 of an acre. There's a huge space for Dad's garden, a basket ball court, a huge swing that hangs from the tree (we used to jump off a ladder onto it when we were kids) and a pond with fish in the back yard. There are banana trees that grow abundantly down there (the water is great for them) and as kids, we had a little John boat that was motorless and we'd row in the pond after school sometimes. We've had a family of otters that frequents our pond and they love buttered bread. There are turtles and Alligator Gar. After talking with Dad yesterday, he was witnessing a mother turtle crawling back down to the pond after laying a nest of baby turtle eggs. He's going to set a wire cage around it so that when they hatch, we can come up and see them before watching them gravitate back to the pond to swim away. There are orange trees, lemon trees and a batting cage. It's home to me and everytime I return there, I walk in the door without knocking and can't wait to see what is new, what is growing, what has evolved out of an experiment or just pure passion.

It's an old home, not perfect. It's had it's share of leaky faucets and scratches on the walls. It's seen room rearrangements and gone through many pets. It's had some paint touch-ups and an addition for the growing family. It's had a tree fort built in my favorite tree, a fire pit out back for cold nights and roasting marshmellows. I remember being in high school, having friends over and sitting out by the bonfire while friends played guitar, sang and just acted like goofy teenagers.

One thing is for sure, I want that for my kids. I love our new home. I love it's space for our garden, trees that seem to touch the sky and sway with the breeze (I love that sound!), space for a swing set (thanks to the hard working hands of my hubby), a porch for painting, eating lunch, grilling our dinner and playing music on the radio. I love our cheap, blow up pool that we get excited about putting up in the summer and how we've built our butterfly house in the corner watching the metamorphasis process take place. One thing I don't necessarily enjoy is the raking of the LEAVES. Good gracious, there are a lot, but I'd rather rake leaves than not have the gorgeous trees.

Do we have a pond like Mom and Dad's? No. BUT, there's always "fishin' wit Pa-pa" and that's what makes it so special.

What are some of your favorite things about your parent's house and growing up in it? What are some things that you implement in your own house/yard for your kids that have been inspired from your youth?