Block Party

Took a few photos at our neighborhood block party this past weekend. They sure didn't hold back-- 2 bounce houses, games with prizes, a band and karaoke. I would've been satisfied with picnicking at the new park :) They had a kid's bike parade, and kids decorated their bikes and themselves.


The Pirate


The Ninja Turtle


Spiderman

Yep, we're THOSE people

who put their cat on a leash. Yuppies? Maybe. This guy is a RUNNER. Any open door and he dashes for it. It's not a wonder he was found as a stray. He meows at the windows, longing to explore the outdoors. So I caved, and we got him a harness and kitty leash. He adjusted pretty quickly when he saw that there were bugs to pounce on.

Lifelong Learning

I love learning new things. It's probably safe to say that every day I do this, but maybe don't always recognize it. One of my favorite things I've learned (or, quite possibly, re-learned) this summer is that there *is* such a thing as baby frogs. I used to think that there were no baby frogs, but only tadpoles. And then when they dropped the tails and grew their legs, they emerged from the water fully grown. This summer I have learned that they still have a lot of growing left to do upon leaving the water, and that there are, indeed, baby frogs. Or perhaps toddler frogs?

On one of my early morning runs I almost stepped on a bug, but happened to notice its interesting shape. Almost like a little microscopic frog. I stopped and found four of them. No bigger than my pinky fingernail, these little black frogs were so tiny they easily could be mistaken for bugs. It was the most incredible thing.

Just the other day we located a baby toad in our front yard, and Gavin had a great time playing with him. Benjamin had a great time looking through our reptile guide to locate said toad. None of the photos matched, exactly, but we decided that perhaps the coloring changes as baby toads mature into grown toads? Gavin informed me that this is, without a doubt, an American Toad. So it will be.

Food. {Ahhhhhhh}

Those of you who know me....and I'm gonna guess that's all of you, since I'm sure I'm down to less than 10 regular readers these days.... :) ..... know that I am in love with food. Driven by food. It all comes back to food. Always. This was a good food week.

First 3 tomatoes picked from the garden!

First time blueberry picking at the Berry Patch in Nevada.

Gavin was extremely careful to NOT pick the unripened berries, and lest one of us accidentally did, he scolded us. Loudly.

Jack was a dedicated berry picker. Thanks to him, we got a second bucket-full.

Blueberries destined for jam

Deep Dish Dutch Crumb blueberry pie.... yes, please. As I write this, in fact. (You did see that piece missing, right?!)

Gavin's Onion

Gavin decided his onion was ready for picking, and brought it to me. I think it may have needed a tad more time to grow, but it was pretty cute to see him excited about it. He picked off the greens and we cut it up. He ate it with a little salt. We agreed that it was *spicy*, but he was a good sport and tried it anyway. Love that little gardener.

Adventureland

We took our kids to Adventureland for the first time this weekend. Thanks to the Carlsons we got reduced price tickets through the State of IA for state workers. Gavin is still 3 so he is free this year, too. Even so, it was nearly $100! Whew, I forgot how much amusement parks cost. Needless to say, we made the most of it by staying 10 hours. They have a water park area now that is amazing. You almost need an entire day to explore and enjoy that. It was on the cooler side yesterday and rainy for a good part of the day, so we only did the water area for about an hour and a half. But it was great to not have blazing hot weather during the other rides. The only ride all of us could go on, 3-yr-olds included, as the Raging River. That was really special and fun. The kids loved it and Jack is far more daring than I expected. I didn't want him to do the two big coasters, but I went on the Outlaw with him and it was FAST and ROUGH. But he said "That was Awesome, mom."

I didn't take too many photos since my camera is a bit on the fritz, and also because we were just enjoying our time so much I didn't think to take it out. I was pretty happy to let the kids unwind with Dippin Dots so that the adults could have a beer and a blooming onion. All in all, an excellent day with excellent friends.

Raging River line!

Look who looks like his big brother!

Dirty Girl Mud Run 5k

Man, that was fun. I mean, GIRL, that was fun. I would totally do that again. Just to go down that giant inflatable slide into a pool of mud again would be worth the entry fee.

Gardnin

Gavin, our master gardener, always likes to take me out and show me what's growing on the plants. Today we saw several eggplant, a few hot peppers, one tiny orange bell forming, and tons of "tomato tomato tomato!!"s



If at one point I was concerned that planting all heirloom tomatoes might bring me a smaller yield, I have put that fear to rest. Check out that ONE branch on ONE plant! I may get curious and go count how many fruit are on each plant, to see what I might need to expect as far as days of canning this August!!

We did some peach mashing to help make black raspberry-peach jam today. We only got 2 jars out of all that work, but hopefully they will be delicious in the middle of winter....

More fun with the Carlson kids

La Mie, Monkey Joes, Chick-Fil-A....OH MY!