School begins!!

Not sure who was more excited in this household to have school start... the kids or me! I will admit that there is a part of me that is sad to see the summer end since we had so much fun. 5 and 3 are great ages to enjoy the simple days of summer at the pool, beach, park, on vacation, and hanging out with friends. Plus.. we usually stayed in our PJs until 10am!!

Last Friday was Alexander's first day of kindergarten. I can't believe it. My little boy off to school on the bus. He was more than excited to go -- woke up at 6:30am to ask me if it was time to get the bus yet. Then decided he would get dressed first (before eating breakfast) just in case he had to run out the door to catch the bus. All grins and smiles, he bravely hopped on the bus and gave us a confident wave goodbye. Surprisingly, I didn't shed a tear. However, when Zack drove him off to the orientation hour the day before, I cried like a baby! The little boy is growing up and informed us that he will be going as "Alex" at school. When I asked why the switch, he explained that it was shorter to write. Brilliant! :-)


Showing off his new Spidey-backpack.





CJ also started her preschool this week. My big girl was excited too! She loves school and her new teacher (helps that we know her from church and playdates). While the majority of the attention has been focused on Alexander, she has been quietly doing workbooks to learn her numbers and letters. I keep telling her that if she keeps writing and learning so much at home that Mrs. King (her teacher) won't have anything left to teach her! Below is a picture outside of her school this year. What a stark contrast from last year in the same spot dropping off Alexander (see the post: Alexander Back to Preschool at http://nittanyhome.blogspot.com/2008/09/alexanders-back-to-preschool.html)

Tomato... In loving memory.

Our Tomatoes
Good growers, beautiful fruits.
Feb. 2009 - Aug. 17, 2009

We started with little seeds back in February with seed trays, heating pads, and lots of love. They grew and grew. We transplanted, fertilized, watered, pruned and tied up. The week we left for vacation they looked like this:

The tall row tied up to green stakes. Aren't they healthy and huge? Each plant was heavy with green fruit waiting for some real summer heat to turn them ripe and red. On our week vacation we hoped our return would be met with bushels of juicy red tomatoes.

Before even going inside to the house after 12 hours in the car, we anxiously walked around the house to the garden and found this:


AACKKK!!!!!!!!!!


Upon further review, the tomatoes had full-blown tomato blight.


This is just devastating.




Possibly some prize winning heirloom tomatoes that will never be.

All of our neighbors were stricken with this air-borne disease too. So sad. Last night, we riped out all the plants, fruit and underlying mulch and trashed it. Hopefully it won't come back next year, but there is no guarantee. In fact, I read that the spores can survive in the dirt even the coldest of winters. I will be in mourning for the rest of the summer.

Maine Part 3 thru 5

I think that Aunt Ann is going to be exhausted upon our return home... because I know that I will be. Isn't this suppose to be v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n??? At what point does vacation with kids return to the lounging and relaxing days of vacation pre-kids? I need to know so I have an endpoint in mind. Please advise.

In our continued quest to do 14 fabulous things per day to make the 14 hour trek worthwhile, here are three days' lists.
Day Three (Tuesday)
1. CJ, our three year old, and the CamelBack. She is incredible to watch down all 72 ounces of water from that pack. I really can't believe she is only 3.
2. Hiking around Hadlock Pond. This is not a major destination in the National Park, but we did still see a few groups of people. It is a small pond, 2+ miles in circumference, and an easy trail.
3. Aunt Ann tripping and falling without our video running!! Man, we keep missing out on this "AFV $10,000" video opportunities. She really has a special knack for falling. When it happens, it is sudden, but always in slow-motion. You could almost say: falling, but with grace. :-)
4. Turning the trail corner to find a Waterfall surprise!! I love when we hike and find a waterfall. They are so beautiful and peaceful.
5. Picnic on Seal Harbor. This is a nice spot of grass overlooking a beach and harbor that six years ago Zack and I sat and watched the boats. It was wonderful to share this with the family and Aunt Ann.
6. We stopped in Northeast Harbor for some blueberry pie. Six years ago there was a small bakery that made the best pie Zack and I ever tasted. Since then no other pie has held up to that memory. We were on another pie mission to find it again. We found the same place but it had been remodeled with many tourist dollars into a more "fine dining" location. What a let down. The pie wasn't homemade and they weren't fresh blueberries. Don't get me wrong, we ate it -- but we weren't happy about it.
7. Our kids. We are so impressed with their stamina to be in the car, to go different places, without complaint.
8. Pretty Marsh park. This outpost is on the west side of the island. Hardly any people visit it, so we enjoyed the rocks and playing in the sand/rocks for a good long time.
9. Thurstons Lobster Pound. I had another Lobster dinner. Need I say more? :-D
10. Kids playing war. You would think this sounds bad, right? However it is wonderful. They have discovered the world of cards and can actively (and correctly) play war with each other. Sitting on the "war carpet" in the living room, they spread their legs in a "V" and touch feet their feet to each others and play cards in the middle. It is a wonderful thing and I am touched everytime they play it.

Day Four (Wednesday)
1. Successfully completing the most important mission of the week. Getting in line for the church pie sale before they opened at 10am. Arriving at 9:45am, I was the 20th in line. We had seen the sign on the side of the road during the week and knew this had to be good when it was advertised as "Pies on Sale Until They Are All Gone". The chatty woman in line from Connecticut next to me told me that I was smart to get in line early because, "they are usually gone in 10 minutes". Wow, was she right. The church lady brought out the pies and there was a mad dash. Snapping up one of the last blueberry pies, the sale was over in 7 minutes. And, yes, the pie is superb! Thank goodness they didn't call this pie sale a festival.
2. Aunt Ann finishing a "moderate" trail hike to Great Head. Not what I would characterize as an outdoor adventurer, she held her own scaling up the mountain rocks to the top of the coast to enjoy the ever magnificent views. She didn't even fall. :-)
3. CJ being such a trooper. Shortly after applying sunscreen, she was jumping from one rock to another holding my hand when our grips slipped apart. She face-planted onto the trail and has some boo-boos on her face. Two minutes later, we were up and trekking. What a trooper!
4. Alexander the Leader. Mrs. Solo, his three-year-old preschool teacher has really bestowed him the value of being a line leader. Our little man led the expedition the whole 2 hour hike up rocks, down gravel, and finding every blue blaze along the way.
5. Snack time at Jordan Pond House. Again, think: Ice Cream. I love ice cream.
6. Unfortunately the wait for a table at the Jordan Pond House was 45 minutes and far too long to wait for tea and pop-overs. We enjoyed our blanket-snack picnic overlooking the mountains and pond. After the sugar rush from the ice cream the kids started running laps around the trees. That was hilarious and priceless.
7. CJ announcing that "Maine is the best place in the whole world."
8. Sipping a beer on the deck while the kids hot tubbed and I read a magazine. Ahhh.
9. Lobster dinner. YUMMY!!!
10. Going to a non-tourist restaurant and getting really friendly service and hearty food.
11. Blueberry pie. I can't believe that we held out for the whole day to eat this. It is already half gone.
12. A Double Qwirkle. That's right, I kicked major game butt! If you don't know this game (Qwirkle), you should -- it's fun. Then you would know it's like a grand slam, shooting the moon, eagle shot, and the like.
Still not to 14. Uh-oh, the week is half over.

Day Five (Thursday)
1. My morning jog with Ripley. This is the first time that I have willing gone out for a jog in the morning ON VACATION and without my ipod. If you know my general regard for running, you would know this is quite the feat. But I have really enjoyed the silent time, fresh air, pine trees and coastal views.
2. Long Pond and renting a canoe. We took the kids out and despite CJ's claims to being scared of the deep water -- we all had a ball.
3. Docking the boat up on the rock coast of the peninsula to have a snack, drink and inevitable wooded potty break.
4. Returning to the shore to have another wonderful picnic lunch with the whole gang.
5. Successfully talking the kids out of swimming in Long Pond (the air temp was 68 and the water was the same. It was chilly for our southern bones) and lobbying hard for a return to the hot tub.
6. Getting in the car and Alexander plainly stating, "That was really cool."
7. Seal Cove. We had driven past the cove the day before searching for a seal upon the recommendation of the local post office woman with no luck. On the way back from Long Pond, we had better luck. As we stood on the rocks with the kids chucking snails and rocks into the water, I saw a seal pop his/her head out of the water to see what we were doing. We all got a look at the head and body as it turned and swam back down the cove.
8. Alexander, again, plainly stating, "Finally, we saw the seal."
9. BBQ at the Atlantic Brewery. More than just the fine flavor of the ribs, how could I not mention seeing Zack gorge himself on the full rack of ribs and Alexander sucking down the Blueberry Soda like it was a cold malt liqueur?
10. CJ telling me that "Mommy, you take the best pictures in the whole wide world". I realize that her concept of 'the whole wide world' may be less than most of us, but I'll take it.
11. Alexander staying up past his bedtime to watch the Steelers pre-season football game.

Maine Part 2

I completely forgot to mention on our round about tour through New England to avoid traffic that we happened upon Amesbury, NH, the self-proclaimed "Carriage Capital of the World". As Alexander often says to me, "How do you know?" Is it still, in 2009, the Carriage Capital of the World? What about towns in other regions of the world that still use horseback or horse drawn vehicles as their major form of transportation? At least we can say that we have been there -- which puts us in a pretty small group of people: Special People who want to avoid 95 traffic.

Day Two
In our continuing goal to find 14 things per day that make this vacation worth the drive, here is my list for Day Two.
1. Another BE-autiful day in Maine. Sunny, 70s, no humidity and picturesque fog lifting from the many islands along the sea.
2. Cadillac Mountain. Approximately 1500 ft above sea level it is a 360 degree view of AWESOMENESS.
3. Thunder Hole. This is a spot on the Atlantic coast that has carved a hole in the rock and when waves come in it creates a "thundering" sound. Unfortunately, there was a lack of thunder when we happened by. No matter, we had a fun climbing along the rocky shoreline. Alexander was scrambling along the rocks, but still intensely aware of the waves. He hates waves.
4. Copping-a-squat under a tree at Thunder Hole for a picnic lunch. This was perfect. We were in the shade, on the cliff overlooking the cove and the coast, enjoying sandwiches and cheetos with a cool breeze blowing on us. Come on -- isn't that just perfect?
5. Having CJ climbing the rocks from the bottom to the top, getting to the top and turning around and saying "LET's do it AGAIN!"
6. The kids picking out postcards at the gift shop. Out of the selection of 50 scenes, they selected the same exact ones. Great minds think alike, right?
7. Bar Harbor. What a cute town filled to the brim with tourists. Finally saw the obligatory t-shirt, tchotchke, and fudge shops. Check, that is done.
8. Sitting on the grassy knoll of Bar Harbor's town green with our shoes and socks off and feeling the cool soft green grass.
9. The kids enjoying some sand time down on the harbor beachfront. Of course, CJ went in with her shoes still on.
10. Potty emergencies. Enough said.
11. The sense of success when the kids fall fast asleep on the ride back home.
12. Hot Tub. Once the kids woke up, they immediately wanted to hop into the hot tub. So, they stripped down and jumped in. I think this may be the last time that the innocence of naked kids in the hot tub will be acceptable. But for now, they have the cutest little white tushes!!

Ah well, I guess we are still striving for 14. Stay tuned.

Maine

We left on Saturday morning in the truck stuffed with two kids, one dog, a favorite Aunt, and two crazy parents (that would be Zack and I). According to multiple information sources, the ride was to take close to 11 or 12 hours. Fine. We can do that. We survived the 12 hour journey to Charleston, South Carolina.

When we drove onto the island in Maine... FOURTEEN hours later, we were relieved. The kids did really well for such a strenuous trek (even CJ's two vomiting episodes). Our good humor and decision to get out of the traffic in Massachusetts, afforded us a unique and less traveled route through the countryside of New England. We also discovered that Massachusetts rhymes with ASS-achusetts.

So for the remaining six days in the beauty of Mt. Desert Island, ME, I am determined to come up with 14 things that make this vacation superb.

Day One (Sunday):
1. Gorgeous sun and a high of 76 with zero humidity. Aunt Ann (from the swamp land of DC and who can't fathom a day with out humidity) was in heaven.
2. Hiking Bass Harbor Lighthouse and the Wonder Trail.
3. Seeing the kids picking and playing with the snails in the tidal pools
4. Lunch -- delicious haddock sandwich on the cove
5. Ice Cream. I love ice cream. I love ice cream on vacation. Really, I love ice cream.
6. Hot tubbing with the kids.
7. Our afternoon walk with the kids. We walked down the street to find pretty New England homes on the waterfront, some horses to feed, and a nice local who told us about a special beach to check out and then an alternate way to walk home on the rocky waterfront. It was really cool.
8. Should I count the multiple things on the walk as separate items??
9. LOBSTER on the docks in Southwest Harbor.
10. Pinot Grigio with my LOBSTER on the docks in Southwest Harbor.
11. The kids giving lobster a thumbs up!


12. Finding an adorable print at the town's art festival.
13. ...hmmmm. Can't think of 14 today, so let's hope for the best tomorrow.

Garden 2009... You say potaTOE, I say potaTAH.

Another weekend spent in the garden. Our main task on Saturday was to pick the row of potatoes. We were very excited to see how this first year crop would do. Thankfully, it was extremely bountiful!!


Here's the harvest and the guard. We estimate that we have about 20 to 25 pounds of delicious red potatoes!


It was quite the assembly line to clean them off. The kids were a huge help... mostly (I think) because it involved the hose.


Here's a good shot of the garden at-present. You can see the orange bucket full of potatoes.


Ripley spends most of her time in the zucchini and squash plants. We have no idea why, but she is keeping it free from critters and bunny thieves.


Our first bell pepper -- and it's PURPLE. Too cool. Oh... and some more squash and zucchini. We pull about that many every two to three days.


Row of lettuce. Yummy!


Here are the kids posing in front of "their garden". All of the sunflowers standing tall behind them to the pretty blue border flowers were carefully planted by them from seed. The umbrellas were for "shade" -- little Miss Diva thought it was too sunny out. HA!

Thanks to all who sent Carrot recipes. Now I need some potato recipes too!!

Festival?

Festival defined:
1. A day or period of time set aside for feasting and celebration
2. An organized series of acts and performances (usually in one place);
3. A festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on some unique aspect of that community.

We read a tidbit in the local paper about a Blueberry Festival this past weekend. Who doesn't love Blueberries? Who doesn't love Festivals? I once knew a person who said, "If it has 'festival' in the name -- we are there!" I can safely say that this is now our mantra as well.

It was an HOUR drive in the remote countryside of central PA. Oh, it was quite bucolic. Rolling hills and farm fields a plenty. After cresting the hill of the gravel road towards the Festival, we began to see signage and our anticipation grew!

Then we got there, parked the car (Prius got close to 52 MPG!!), and then our cynical selves started to take over.

Here are the kids giddy with excitement for Blueberry ice cream!
Artisitc signage leading to the FESTIVAL.


The "organized series of acts and performances" of the Festival. It consisted of two guys with a guitar and banjo. They played bluegrass (at least it was consistent with the "blue" theme) for the two older ladies for the half hour we were there.


Here is a shot of the ONLY PINT OF FRESH BLUEBERRIES!!! We arrived at 4pm on the first day (it opened at Noon) and they were already out of fresh blueberries. The man let CJ hold the berry for the picture, then quickly put it back in the half pint. SERIOUSLY!!!!


Well, the pie was awesome.


Ice cream was good -- pie was better.


As you can see. Zack thought the trip was worth the drive.


Here is the friendly dog, Shadow, who followed us around the grounds. He was a nice dog who played with the kids. As you can see, CJ loved it.

I didn't take a picture inside due to embarrassment, but the Festival really was a mess/dining hall of a church building that was selling pie and ice cream. That was it. While the pie was really delicious, it was false advertising to call it a festival. Although, we probably still would have made the drive if they had deemed it a "Blueberry Pie Sale". But that's just us.

Garden 2009... Carrots anyone?

The bounty is non-stop. I think I may have to invest in that fancy food saver that Paul is always raving about! This weekend (after returning from Pittsburgh) we went to tend to the garden. We tied up the tomatos (lots of green ones!!!), weeded where the new pea sprouts are coming up, harvested some lettuce, pulled a few heads of broccoli, and then picked a few summer squash and zucchinis (see picture1 below)


Then we decided to checked on the carrots and potatoes. Really how long are they suppose to grow?

TADA!!!

We were shocked! What the hell are we going to do with all these carrots? Plus we have some more growing for a 'late season' harvest. I am not sure that the kids will eat that many crunchy or sauteed carrots. I proposed to them that they eat them for breakfast; cut up with milk. CJ was in -- but Alexander called my bluff.

Since we had success with the one root vegetable, we checked on the potatoes! WOO-HOO!! We made great big potatoes! These are just the three feet of the 20 foot row of this crop. So if you have any great potato and carrot recipes --- SEND THEM TO US!


Here is my funny moment of the day. Once this was pulled up, I just had to laugh. But then again, my mind always goes to the gutter first and foremost.

Pittsburgh, who knew?

Who knew you could have so much fun in Pittsburgh?

Zack has wanted to take me and the kids to see the new PNC Park for awhile. On a bit of a whim, he took off work this past Friday and we headed out on an adventure. The kids were so excited to be going to the zoo, riding a boat to a Pirates game, going to a baseball game and staying in a hotel.

Even though it started to pour the MOMENT we walked into the zoo gates, we had a blast. The animals were engaging and so close you felt that you could pet them. Zack and I were stunned at how cool this zoo was -- and how the kids, of course, were just concerned with what to see next.


My personal favorite: The Bengal Tiger. CJ (in the green raincoat) just dazed at this creature. Without the glass, we could have snuggled with it!

Couldn't go to Pittsburgh without running into a Penguin fan...

This guy dove into the water and swam directly over to the kids. Then played with them by patting his wings on the glass to splash at them.

You can see how these little experiences made them want more!


Is it a girl thing? CJ loves merry-go-rounds while Alexander won't step foot on one. This was her "favorite part of the day".


We were waiting for the shark to swim over and Zack was getting a bit tired. Can you tell?


Here we are on the boat over to the game. Still raining off and on, but we are all still happy and having fun!



At the game. Alexander wanted to know if we would see fireworks afterwards. We told him that no, not tonight. But then two batters later -- a player hit a homerun and they shot off fireworks...


You can see his joy with that!


The next morning we rode the "incline" up the hill to a great Pittsburgh overlook. The kids thought the ride was cool and we loved the view.


Only 28 hours in the city, but who knew we could have so much fun???!

Happy Birthday Sweet Jean!

Since work has been ridiculously crazy lately (http://www.centredaily.com/talk-about/story/1398607.html), I haven’t had a chance to plan a big celebration for my beautiful wife’s 37th birthday today. And, to be honest, as of this writing, I haven’t even had a chance to buy her a gift. I think this makes me a bad husband.

But allow me to defend myself. I did make breakfast in bed for the Birthday Girl this morning, with the “help” of the kids. And I will figure out an awesome gift for her in the next three hours. OK, I know that’s not much.

But in an attempt to make up for my bad-husbandness, I wanted to write a quick post to prompt everyone to leave Happy Birthday comments for Jean and tell her how beautiful she is, and how great a daughter/wife/mom she is. And for those who have had a chance to witness her tremendous hosting skills recently, please also tell her how great a CHEF she is (bit of an inside joke there, but go along with it even if you don’t understand it).



You see, from the moment I met Jean way back in 1993, it has been driven into my head that Jean’s Birthday is The Most Important Day of the Year – bigger than any national holiday, and certainly more important than anyone else’s birthday. And, while she really doesn’t put any pressure on me to do anything spectacular for her (thankfully), God help me the day I forget to wish her a Happy Birthday the moment my eyes open on July 15th.

So, without getting too sappy, here’s to you Jean. Happy Birthday! You truly are the best thing to every happen to me, and you make me a better person every single day. Not that this is about me! It’s about you and the tremendous joy you bring into the lives of those around you. I can’t think of a person who doesn’t appreciate your honesty, love your wit, and genuinely enjoy being around you. I am unbelievably happy that you were born on this day in 1972. And I am so grateful that you choose to spend The Most Important Day of the Year with me every year.

Love You!

Active Summer

If we haven't written it here before, it's worth repeating that the thing we like most about being in Happy Valley is the summer weather. The summer weather also happens to be one of the things that I hated most about DC. A typical July day in State College includes temperatures in the mid to upper 70s, a light breeze, and low humidity. Compare that to the mid to upper 80's, stagnant air, and high humidity of the DC swamp, and it's easy to see why we prefer it here. Of course, we suffer through long and pretty cold winters, but I am happy to make that trade.

All of that being said, we have made a commitment this summer to get outside and enjoy it. Whether that is spending more time in the yard, gardening, having fires in the fire pit, playing softball, going to parks, or getting to a nearby state park or forest, we've been pretty successful so far. Jean has already written about her two 5Ks this summer (ok, one 5K and one 4K, but you get the point), which I believe is a record.

As for me, I am trying to be less of an Aspirational Outdoorsman, and more of an actual one. Take for example the overnight camping trip I took my nephews Andrew and Spencer on. One night in a state park on 15 miles from home is not exactly Everest, I understand. But it was a start to organize a 14 year old and a 16 year old for hiking and camping - and we pulled it off without a hitch. Penn Roosevelt State Park was the destination, a small state park nestled within the much larger Rothrock State Forest, and right on the Mid-State Trail, a footpath that bisects the Commonwealth of PA from Maryland to New York. After setting up camp in the morning, we set off on a 9 mile hike along the MST. Despite the threat of rain all day, we stayed dry and the only real excitement was Ripley's attack on a never-seen porcupine. It was so exciting that I completely forgot to take of picture of poor Ripley with ten quills sticking out of her nose, muzzle, and gums. The picture below was taken only a few minutes after said attack, and as you can see, Rips is just fine. In fact, she went right back to chasing everything that moved for the rest of the day.



To further prove our amateur camper status, Jean, Ruth, and the three little ones brought dinner to our campsite and we had a great picnic! We were able to build a modest fire despite the soggy conditions, which was probably the greatest feat of the weekend. Well, maybe not the greatest.

That honor would belong to Alexander, who decided to camp out with us and then go on our hike the next morning. We chose a steep hike to the top of a mountain in hopes that we could climb the fire tower and get great views. After a few minutes of complaining that he was tired (only ten minutes into a 2 hour hike!), we put Alexander in the front and he led us all the way to the top! Even the teenagers were impressed! Unfortunately, our luck was about to run out... Turns out that the fire tower is now closed to hikers - and there are no views from this very high mountain top. And after a quick lunch in the shadow of the tower, we started heading back down to the car, only to get caught in a massive downpour! And, while I was somewhat prepared for the rain with ponchos for Alexander and me, he was not prepared to get wet while being ABSOLUTELY EXHAUSTED. Meltdown ensued, so Andrew and I had to run 1.5 miles downhill to get the truck and rescue him and Spencer from the side of the mountain, just as the rain stopped. Thankfully, the boy has NOT been scarred for life, but didn't hesitate to remind me several times that he was unhappy about the rain...

Overall, I'd say a successful outing - and hopefully one that clears the way for more camping in the future.

Oh, and one more thing - CJ was absolutely DEVASTATED that she couldn't camp out with us in the forest. She, Alexander, and I had done a successful night out in the tent in the yard, so she thought she was ready...maybe there is hope that my little diva could be an outdoors diva someday!

Ripley... Believe it or Not

I am a bit surprised that I haven't yet blogged about Ripley before. She really is a big part of our family and daily adventures. Thinking back on it, many decisions have been made with her in mind. Such as:
>When moving to State College we need a big yard for her to play in.
>If we buy the Prius, will Ripley fit in the hatchback.
>Does the vacation rental accept dogs.
>When we go to visit family, whose house will allow her.
>Which park/forest to go hiking in ... that allows dogs.
>How to pack the car for a long trip to ensure that her dog bed is on top and has a good view.... you get the point.

One of her characteristics that we enjoy the most is her love of the hunt. She is constantly on patrol around the house (within the confines of the electric fence), warding off cats, birds, groundhogs, chipmunks, bunnies, and the occasional skunk. It's our own personal Wild Kingdom episode. Of that list, she has only lost the fight to the skunk. Three times. Okay, she is not the smartest dog. But I digress.

Over the last two years she has been productive in her "guarding the perimeter" duties. We have cleaned up 2 groundhogs, a black bird (she grabbed that one out of the air as it dove towards Alexander's head in the sandbox), a chipmunk (that unfortunately I shooed out of the garage into her waiting chompers), and a nest of new robin chicks. As for the cats and bunnies, she has chased them along the boundaries so often that we swear they have figured out where her electric fence is. The kids thought we should get the other animals collars so that they would stay out. Good idea, just hard to implement.

All of this brings me to the last week in the life of Ripley. Or should I say, Killer.

Ripley went hiking with Zack and our two nephews. She loves to do figure-eights along the path searching and sniffing out animals. Much to Zack's surprise, she returned with a snout full of porcupine quills. Never did see the porcupine, but it was interesting to see how amazingly sharp those needles really are... it took pliers to get the few in her mouth/nose/gums out. I still wonder how the porcupine fared.

A few nights go, we were walking through the garden after dusk and were surprised to find a rabbit and her six itty-bitty bunnies buffeting on carrot stems. When they scattered a foot out of the garden and then froze in shock in the open grass -- Ripley went BERSERK! It sort of reminded me of the scene in Nemo when the shark that doesn't eat fish smells the blood from Dori and chases her about the ocean. Just take that and replace the ocean with our backyard.

Fortunately, Zack corralled Ripley and stuffed her inside the house while we tried to shoo the bunnies out of the yard - unsuccessfully. Skip forward to the next day when I was in the garden with the kids doing some weeding/chores after I checked through to see if any bunnies were there. We were in and out of all the rows for at least 20 minutes. CJ got bored and I went to swing her on the adjacent playset, when....
Ripley came bouncing out of the potatoes with a bunny in her mouth.

This is when the Wild Kingdom is too close for comfort. As much as we love her hunting nature, I really hate seeing a baby bunny take its last breath of air and life. So what to do? Do I scold her for killing a rabbit (just because it is a baby) or praise her for doing her job?

There are so many factors I could consider: the rabbit was stealing from our food source, Darwin's survival of the fittest, the food chain, circle of life, etc. But all I can be sure of is:
1) The garden is safe and
2) Ripley's looking for seconds.

Garden 2009... the bounty begins

This year the big experiment in the garden has been to grow EVERYTHING from seed. We started back in late February with trays in the sun room and fancy seed warmers (think overpriced heating pad). Transplanted the growing seedlings twice to bigger pots, tempered the plants to outside and eventually got them into the ground outside a bit before Memorial Day.

Finally, we are starting to enjoy the fruits (or vegetables, in this case) of our labor.

With the peas already grown, picked, shelled and eaten/frozen, we are planting a new crop for the fall harvest.

Here are the kids shelling the daily pick of peas. Alexander really was a machine doing this job -- CJ on the other hand... Well, she ate more than she dropped and she dropped more than she put in the basket.

Now we are enjoying broccoli practically every other night and loving the freshness. Still waiting on green tomatoes to ripen, green beans, carrots, onions, peppers, potatoes and a mix of herbs to finish growing.

The kids work pulling weeds, watering (they fight over this chore) and laying down mulch, but they love pulling the veggies off and eating them for dinner that night. As for Zack and I... we love thinking that the veggies for the summer and frozen for winter only cost us about $35!

Perhaps we should think about a greenhouse, or row covers, or cold frames to extend the season even longer..... hmmmmm. 2010 Garden plans begin.


Buttercrisp lettuce. Enough for a week. But after already harvesting that same amount 3 times prior, we still have about 3 more cuttings to go!


CJ and her "bouquet" of broccoli.


Enjoyed this last night, steamed with some butter and salt. YUMMY!

Funny this and that... Part II

So far age 5, is all good. He is innocent, fairly self-sufficient and has such a humorous outlook. Plus, when CJ is getting in trouble he turns into a show-off with his good manners and helpful nature. Alexander has been cracking me up.

For the grandparents and aunt in the reading audience, here are just two little remarks that made me laugh in the last day or so.

I'm on the phone (what a rare occurrence ;-)) when Alexander comes running into me.
Alexander: "MOMMY! I remembered how the song goes!"
Me: [shrug shoulders, confused look, point to phone]
Alexander: [singing and shaking his hips] "THERE'S A PARTY IN MY TUMMY, So Yummy, So Yummy!!"
He gives me a big smile and then runs off.

It was more than a week ago that we tried to think of that little ditty at the lunch table with no success. Sometimes I wish I had a way to know his train of thought.

At the pool, he was swimming around per usual. He really enjoys swimming underwater, so most of the time he is just bobbing up and down. This time he comes to the surface and says:
Alexander: "MOMMY! Watch this!"
[dunks under water, blows out bubbles in one big blup-blup]
Me: "Cool."
Alexander: "Yeah! I can make big bubbles with my breath!! I didn't know I could just make bubbles with my breath. I think they come from here.[points to tummy] Look -- I'll do it again!"

Discovery is an awe-inspiring moment.