Our Birthday Dome Climber!

In early February, we selected the boys' 'big gift' for their birthday. We decided to get them a Dome Climber. We ordered it and after many delays, we finally received our Dome Climber!

The boys were excited to see all the pieces and were not quite sure what had arrived. They only knew it was their birthday gift and they were thankful. Most of all, they were anxious to see it all put together.

Daddy started putting together the dome climber one evening.
The boys were watching Daddy and continued chanting "Build it Daddy!" In this picture, you can see that Andrew (far right) was jumping up and down; caught in this picture in the air.
After evening #1, Daddy had the bottom level put together. The dome is starting to take shape!
On Day 2, Daddy enlisted the help of three little helpers to complete the dome. While they may have not been very helpful, Daddy was able to get the entire dome put together, except 8 missing nuts. At the end of the evening, Daddy had to run to the hardware store to get the missing nuts and the boys had to wait one more day before enjoying their present.

On Saturday morning, the time had come. After breakfast, the boys raced out of the door and quickly started climbing their new Dome Climber...
The were able to get up to the first level and then did not have the courage to climb much further.
All day, the boys were calling themselves 'Super Strong Andrew,' 'Super Strong Jared,' and 'Super Strong Wessie' as they were climbing. They were very proud of their ability to climb...
Since they only had the initial courage to climb one level, they challenged themselves by walking around the full circle on that first level....
Happy Birthday Boys!
Making their way around the circle...
After dinner, the boys again went outside to play and on this trip, they had a lot more courage. Wes was the first to climb all the way to the top. Andrew was quick to follow...
They also discovered the joy of climbing on the inside as seen with Andrew in this picture. Here is Andrew's concerned face...
Same position with Andrew's surprised face...
And now we have Andrew's cheese face...
Jared was most comfortable climbing around the lower level...
Once Wes got all the way to the top, he preferred to get down by pushing his body up on the bar...
And then dropping down...
Yep, my heart skipped a beat with the first few drops but then he consistently did this without any issues. He was so proud climbing all the way to the top...
Wes reaching the peak (5.5 feet high). The dome climber is also 12 feet in diameter.

Here is a little video of the boys enjoying their new dome climber. You can see Wes repeatedly climbing up and dropping, Jared hanging out on the bottom and Andrew in between the two approaches.

The boys enjoyed their first day with their new dome climber. I hope they continue to have fun with this for many years to come. They enjoy playing outside so much and we want to do everything possible to continue to encourage it!

Happy 3rd Birthday Andrew, Jared and Wes!

Take care,