The last week has been busy as usual.  We went camping with Uncle Steven and Aunt Erin to Sibley State Park.

We had great weather, plenty of caterpillars for Andrew to catch, and lots of smores to eat.

Andrew enjoyed the extra attention from Steven and Erin, even when they dressed him as a superhero and made him run around the campsite shouting “Superhero, to the rescue!”.

We were able to do quite a bit of hiking and had lots of great photo opps!

When the fun was over, we came home and made Andrew paint our bathroom.  He only missed a few spots.

Today and tomorrow are days filled with garage sales.  There are nine sales going on in our neighborhood and somehow we turned into the hosting location for 3 families.  There were lots of customers and lots of kids.  Towards the end of the day, Pete and I had fun sending our neighbor kids over to other sales with foreign change from Pete’s many trips!

We’re looking forward to a relaxing weekend

Today we put the final touches on Phase One of the landscaping.  Here’s what we began with:

While I was at Wolf Ridge, Pete and Andrew completed this:

While they were fishing, I did this:

Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve slowly been figuring out what kind of plants we want and deciding where to place them.  Today, we planted two more perennials and then put down mulch.

There are still a few spaces to fill and we’re going to put a couple of stepping stones so we can get from the sidewalk to the grass.  The trees have a new look as well.

We’re very pleased with how it has turned out and just hopeful that everything lives and that the mulch doesn’t wash away

The bur oak is a great addition, but is struggling a bit.

It’s been fertilized and we’ve watered it every day.  Here’s a closer look:

We’re hoping that it’s just the stress of being transplanted.  Any ideas of what we’re doing wrong???  I’m going to give the nursery a call tomorrow to get suggestions.  In the meantime, I will leave you with this…my favorite plant so far…a speedwell!

Yesterday was the last day of school for my class!  Everyone was ready for break to be here.  I had lunch with a couple of friends today.  Actually had lunch.  With no kids running by to tell me that their tooth fell out.  No meetings.  No fire drills.  No kids arguing about who gets to bring the kickball out.  Didn’t have to tie any shoes or snap any pants.  No rushing to eat because it’s raining again and, crap, the kids will be back soon.

Anyway, we were on the topic of retirement and I realized that I could easily be doing this job for many, many more years.  Sigh.

The up side is that I get to spend my summers with this kid:

There are all sorts of parks to explore, critters to find, ice cream to eat, and fun to be had.

The excitement began tonight as I was finishing up grilling.  I looked over and saw this little frog sitting on the side of the grill.

So for the next 20 minutes we watched as Andrew enjoyed his new friend (and apparently stomped on my cilantro).

Looking forward to the adventure!

A couple of weeks ago, Pete hopped across the Pond to spend 5 hours on a yacht in the Sydney Harbour work.

Andrew and I spent lots of quality time together and even had time to read books to this little one.

Once Pete was back, we were on to our next adventure.  We met up with the D grandparents and Aunt E.   They were in charge of Andrew for a couple of days while Pete and I escaped.

A good friend of mine from SCSU days was married up on The Range.

She was a beautiful bride and it was a fun day!

On our drive home we tried to find some breakfast, but all we found was this hockey stick.  Pete has a friend in Dubai that saw this picture and joked that he would share this with the sheikh and soon they would have the world’s largest hockey stick.

Once we gathered Andrew, we arrived home to do some more landscape work.  Planting this tree turned out to be somewhat of an ordeal.  First our neighbors saw that we were outside and decided to drop their kids off with us to play.  A few minutes later another neighbor came over with a shovel and LOTS of advice on what we should be doing differently.  Pete’s phone was ringing on and on from someone from the Australian government.  In the end, the tree and shrubs were planted but I was too exhausted to take any more pictures…maybe another day!

Also, I am growing tired of the landscaping work and moving on to a new project

Right after I convince Andrew to help me clean up his toys.

Yesterday we spent a lot of time doing this and waiting for the rain to stop.

Luckily today was perfect and my brother was able to enjoy it with us.  We loaded up the supplies and headed for a day at a park.

The four of us set out and gave Andrew firm reminders of the importance of remaining seating while on the canoe.  He did a great job and we paddled around the lake for about 45 minutes.  Once we were back, Steven said “Hey guys, want to see that gunnel jumping I was telling you about?  I’ll be right back”.  And with that I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

See below for a video of what he looked like…

So much for teaching Andrew about sitting down in a boat.  Thanks a lot, Steven.

Andrew pulled him to shore just before the rental people came to quickly take back their lifejackets and paddles.

We had a picnic.  Andrew found 2 more caterpillars to add to his collection.  We played at the park.

And we are REALLY looking forward to the beginning of our summer.  4 more days!!!

Andrew continues to amaze us with how much he knows.  The last few weeks he’s been playing on and off with a little airplane that used to make noise.  We explained that the batteries were dead and we’d have to put new ones in to make it work again.

This afternoon, I picked him up from daycare and we were driving home in the rain.  I was singing “Rain, rain, go away” and suggested that he try to sing it and maybe the rain would go away.  He shook his head no, so I continued to sing while he looked outside at the rain coming down.  A minute later he said “That song not workin’ Mom.  Has dead batteries”.

We

had

a

great day.

Leaving for a week is not something that occurs often for me.  In fact, I have not been away that long in 3 years.  Soon after I got home, I began to notice a few things that changed.  Some for the better, others not.

For instance, this plant.  Not better, but rather barely hanging on to life.  (Same goes for my cilantro and basil)

Also not for the better, Andrew’s new eating habits.

I also heard stories of hot dogs and marshmallows by fire.  Andrew is not great at keeping secrets.  He also explained to me that “I not takin’ a shower anymore” and repeatedly asked “where are my girls at, Mom?”  while looking out the window for the neighbors.  I chose to ignore those comments and instead focused my attention on his nutrition.

Once order was restored and the layer of grass, dirt, and food was cleaned from the countertops and floors, I was able to appreciate the work that did happen while I was away.

Still not sure how this was pulled off, but I’m looking forward to doing some planting!  We had about an hour together before Pete left for the airport.  Andrew dealt with the transitions flawlessly, I dealt with it by consuming chocolate and ice cream.  Oh well, so it goes…tomorrow, Andrew and I are going to do one last weed pulling session in the garden and then hopefully planting vegetables!

Laura returned home safe and sound tonight.  Andy and I were really happy to see her and help us return to a civilized life.

Since my last post Andy and I went camping in the back yard including a camp fire and a night in a tent.  We also did a little yard work that caught Laura by surprise….