Down In The Snakes

This past month I've been working like crazy to get the basement cleared out and cleaned up so that we could use it as another large play area in the house.  With all the cold weather we've had, I thought it would be nice to put the trampoline down there (and finally out of the living room) with some of their other large toys.  After getting the carpet cleaned last Wednesday, I went out on the deck and brought the big Thomas the Train inside and washed the dusty tracks off.  While there are a few other little projects and decorative things I'd like to do down there, it was ready enough that we could do a "big reveal" for the boys after their party last Saturday. 

I call it a reveal because up until that point, they had never really been down in the basement.  Previously, it was home to a lot of storage, computer desks, and other miscellaneous items that weren't safe for them to explore.  Did I mention it was pretty much impossible to even walk?  A long time ago, Ryan and I told the boys there were snakes down there and that only Wesley and Geoffrey go "down in the snakes".  And that concept of what was behind the mysterious door stuck.  When the carpet cleaners came, the boys were really curious about the loud noise and long hoses...so I told them all the snakes were being taken out of the basement and returned to the jungle.  On Saturday when we invited them down, there were brief looks of question followed by eager bounds down the steps where they were in awe of finding some of their favorite toys at the bottom.  They did ask where the trampoline went for the 1 day it was missing upstairs.  I wonder what was going on in their heads when strange men came to suck snakes out of the house, a giant trampoline went missing, and then they suddenly find a bright and shiny new play space they've never seen before!?  The funny thing is that everyday since then, they've been asking non-stop if they can go "down in the snakes" and play when they wake up and after meals.  It's especially funny to hear Spencie saying it clear as day.  Owen keeps telling me he thinks it's a really nice place to play!  They've been pretty good about leaving the drum set alone, but since we've put the drum sticks up during the day, they found alternatives to play with when I'm not looking!  Oliver snuck down while I was making lunch today to sing on his new karaoke machine, which I thought was cute and let him finish the song before coming back up to eat.  After lunch we went back down and did a new dinosaur puzzle before naps.  I'm definitely happy with the result of all the work it took to get the snakes out!!