Outside

Just a few shots from our morning in the sun.

Jackie-Jack's Birthday

Jack's birthday was a couple weeks ago. I was pretty sad that the pictures of the day didn't really turn out that great. It looks like I had my camera on the "blurry" setting, um, or something like that. Regardless, it was a wonderful, fun-filled day spent celebrating the two precious years we've had with this amazing little life.

The day began with the traditional "fairy present" hunt...

and continued after breakfast with more presents, from Grandma Lyon and Great-Grandma Frickel...

then after a trip to the neighbor's house to borrow a pump, we spent the rest of the morning at the pool...

with a snack break, of course.

Then, inside for naps. Waking up to a celebratory dinner, with Daddy home, then more presents and cake. (sorry, no pictures unfortunately)

And, possibly the highlight of the day, watching Jack and Ethan try out Jack's present from us and Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy Birthday, sweet Jack!

The Zoo

Today we took advantage of this refreshingly cool July day with a trip to the zoo. Usually, July and zoo don't really go together in my opinion. There is just something about 90 degree heat, smelly animals, and hot, cranky kids that don't sound appealing to me. So when I heard that this would be a cool, overcast week, I knew a trip to the zoo was in order.

Don't worry, though. We didn't let the chilly day keep us away from the ice cream stand.

In the Water

The summer heat has finally hit. We knew the daily afternoon thunderstorms, which would sweep in and cool everything off, were too good to last. Yes, while most people look forward to seeing the sun, Todd and I love the brief spurts of rainy weather, and soak them up while we can. But with the heat comes an excuse to get out of our warm, exceedingly sticky (swamp cooler cooled) house, and venture out to see what we can find to do around town. The name of the game? Fun and Free!

Here is one example: a great waterfall/wading pool to cool kids off.

May in Review

We were all sick in May, and it took a while to bounce back, so blogging wasn't really top priority on my to do list. It was still a good full month, so here is a look back at a few highlights.

Crafting

Making cards for Grandpa Lyon's birthday

Ethan and Todd find a snake

Playing at the water table

Some sewing for my Mom for Mother's Day

A trip to the zoo

Planting a tree on Memorial Day

Imagination at Play, or When Less Is More

Ethan has always seemed to have a great imagination. He was pretending he was a kitty with Anna when he was only a year or two. But lately it has reached a new level, and has been teaching me that it really is true that when it comes to "stuff" for kids, less really can be more.

For example...

This is Ethan's tire store, inspired by Luigi and Guido in Cars. He is holding a paintbrush, and that dry, crackled dirt is paint. You can get a good deal on tires here, as well as a paint job.

Ethan built this house for his worm, would lose his worm, dismantle the house to find him, and then rebuild.

This is a car wash...

complete with an "air dryer."

I could go on and on about all of the amazing things that he comes up with. (The blanket house he built comes to mind. I was warned not to touch the little hole that he had formed- it was filled with electricity). But I'll just say that it has been an amazing experience watching his mind grow and explore, and I'm so thankful for these precious moments.

Seedling Update: Final Edition

It has been a while since I chronicled the seedlings that I started back in March. They really did so much better than I expected. They were hardened off, then planted carefully in the garden. The thin, spindly stems soon turned into thick, sturdy stalks. The funny purple color that they had been sporting gave way to a healthy dark green. Such a promising start.

See? This was one a couple weeks ago, and since then they have grown even more.

Today, we returned from Fort Collins to find this all over our yard, on our roof, and in the garden.

So, now my treasured plants look like this.

I don't think that these plants will be bringing me any ripe juicy tomatoes in August.

And, here are my peas...

squash...

and the lettuce bed that yesterday was filled with spinach, arugula, bibb, romaine, red lettuce, and Napa cabbage.

So, I guess I have a lot of planting to do this week.