Monster Zucchini!

So, already had first crop of 5 zukes for stirfry a week ago. And already I can pick more. Aren't they cute? And yes, they are yellow ones.

Garden Update

I decided to post a bit of an updated image from the garden. This was taken a few days ago. It's pretty much crowded now. I have a tomato forest and I think the zucchini are looking monstrous. This was pretty much my, "How much can I squish into this small corner" project. In case you forgot what it looked like when I started, see below.

Hubby's Birthday... continued.

For his birthday dinner, we had grilled short ribs and rice. For dessert, I made a pineapple upside down cake with coconut glaze paired with home made coconut ice cream.

Shhhh... Hubby's Birthday....

The kids are coloring a banner for Daddy. This, of course, will stay up for days, maybe even a couple of weeks from today. Every time I have to wheedle them to take stuff like this down, BUT it is all in fun. Girlie pants has been repeating over and over.... "Daddy's birthday? Going to Applebee's!!!" Since hubby mentioned it last week. I guess we are going for dinner with another get together this Sunday evening for grilling with extended family. Yipee, no cooking for Mommy tonight!

Beach

So, we went to the beach. No wind, so, no kites. But, Daddy and little man went for a round of rock skipping lessons. Girlie and I looked for shells. Ran around a bit. A few pictures. As you can see, girl didn't really want to pose...at ALL.

Kite Flying Gas Works Park.... Attempted

So, today is Memorial Day, and daddy is off. We think it would be a great day to venture into the city. We load up on snacks like apples and kettle corn and go to a park called "Gas Works Park in an attempt to fly kites. We have flown kites before, with success. We even got a bigger one for little man so that it will catch more wind. Of course, it had Optimus Prime on it. Transformers all the way, Baby. Esther's is a more generic ladybug, however it can and does get some height on it. Problem. Today there wasn't much wind. After both Daddy and Mommy attempt to get them skyborn, they fell. They stayed up for all of five minutes after we fought to get them up there, then the wind died. It was still a great day though to hang out, got a lot of sun. Both little man and girlie pants are starting to look a little tan. Thankfully, we passed on some genes that allow them to resist sunburn. Here is Daddy trying to get the ladybug kite airborne.
Some more photos. Daddy took the one with little man sitting on a hill. I think it's a great shot. Here is us, little man took the photo as well as a picture of why it is called "GAS WORK" Park. In the distance, you can see the smoke stack. This is a great park. Hubby likes it too because of all the yachts we can see from the hill. There was one that passed by that apparently had a party on board because we could hear the music from where we were up on the hill. There were quite a few people, lots of dogs, runners, a few younger people playing football, and many others attempting kite flying as well. All in all, a good morning.

Shaping up

Finally decided to warm up here. We are starting to have blooming stuff in our yard. Here are some iris. Funny story. The first time we got blooms off of the iris (which I got from my sister in law), I only had dark purple flowers. Second time around, a renegade yellow one appeared. This year, there is one that is two-toned. Purple and white. I wish you could see the colors up close. Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of fancy camera. Some other flowers that are blooming include a columbine, also known as a granny's bonnet. I didn't have any forethought. It's smooshed between iris. Going to have to move it later. The lilac bush, which I whacked the dickens out of this past fall, is blooming too. There is also a weirdly placed wisteria. It's next to the power pole and always climbs up it. Which is, in my opinion, a fire hazard as well as inconvenient for maintenance people. I wish it was transplant able. It's too big and old though, so I just whack what climbs up the pole.

The part that was really a lot of work is the vegetable and herb corner. NOW there was some major work. I mentioned it before, but here is a rundown of what I have. Herbs: 2 types of basil (green and purple), 2 types of mint (pineapple and apple), chives, cilantro, lemon balm. Vegetables: Corn, pumpkins, 3 kinds of green beans, zucchini, heriloom tomatoes, onions. There is also some sunflowers that my sister in law gave me as well. Hopefully, they thrive and I will have veggies in a few months.

Planting

So, the big plan is to grow vegetables. Cleaned out corner of the yard. Took a bit of digging, mostly by hubby. I weeded and degrassed and worked in I think 50 lbs of steer manure. If all goes well, in a few months I will have corn, zucchini, tomatoes, beans, sweet pumpkin as well as a few herbs. Here is hoping my thumb is green enough to plant from seeds rather than seedlings like what I did in prior year.

Easter photo...

Just a quick photo of the kids taken yesterday, since I haven't posted in awhile and people haven't seen recent photo of little man.

Long time no post, first day school!

So, as most of you know, I have been home schooling our son for the past 2 years. Well, it came to light that our girlie pants needs a little help. Physically, she is 5 and a half, cognitively, 3. She is also needing a bit of speech therapy. So today, was her first day of school. *sob* Since we needed to do this, decided to start little man (who is 7) this coming fall too. Funny thing is, it's a bit backwards, we thought we would be sticking our son in school first. He was a bit confused to why his isn't starting until September. Here she is, first day. No, no separation problem. Told her time to go with the teacher, she barely looks at me, grabs the teacher's hand, waves and says, "Bye, bye, Mommy!".