Drew’s Backyard Adventures

One of the really fun things about living in Haiti is that the kids play outside all the time.  We never did that to this extent in Florida as it was too hot and the kids were too young to go out alone.  The kids are a little older now and in many ways it’s safer here where we live.  It’s hotter here then Florida most of the year, but when your house is not air conditioned, outside is where you want to be.

Drew is my creative child.  He finds all kinds of ways to make outside play fun. Our yard isn’t huge, but it’s got plenty of room to play.  It kind of just ends at a cliff.  Down below that cliff is the part of our yard  where we have our vegetable garden.  We only use about half of the garden space for planting, so Drew loves to play down there.  We call it “down the cliff” or simply “anba” which means under or below in Creole.  If I don’t see Drew right away, down the cliff is usually where I check first!

For a long while he was really into planting seeds down there.  He planted black beans and got a pretty big harvest a few weeks ago.  Enough to make rice and beans for 2 meals.  Right now, it’s too hot to be planting anything new, so he and Meritha have been up to some new things.

Here is a photo taken after he and Meritha finished making a “tikay” (little house) out of thatch.  It was fun to watch Drew walk up and down our road looking for fallen palm fronds.  Meritha did more of the work building it.  I think she secretly loves some of the stuff Drew asks her to do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They also made these little shelters, one each for Drew and Tessa.  Tessa really enjoys playing down there with Drew.  It’s interesting to see their differences though!  The day they built these shelters, Drew was playing with his just like you’d expect a 6-year-old boy to play and Tessa was walking around searching for flowers and ribbons to decorate hers.

I remember when we moved to Haiti a year ago, Drew was in a phase where he wanted to be a rock climber.  He thought for sure he was going to be able to rock climb in Haiti.  His wish has come true right in our back yard.  He loves climbing the cliff wall.

 

  

A few Saturdays ago, Rob told Drew he would do anything he wanted with him.  Drew’s idea was for Rob to dig him a foxhole.  I have no idea how Drew knows about foxholes, but he was super excited to have one.  I thought Rob was crazy for doing it!  He had to get out the pick-ax to get thru the limestone to make it deep enough for Drew to get into.  I think he also took down his electric grinder.  In the end, he had a fun foxhole to play in.  The next weekend, they dug a tunnel to hide under in the foxhole.  I don’t have pictures of that.

 

 

Thatch playhouses, rock climbing, foxholes, planting seeds…  it’s all a 6-year-old boy could want!

~Becky