Set Sail

So I knew about 6 months ago that we were going to make our trip to Annapolis an annual one. How did I know? Because the kids were STILL talking about the boat, and Zach and the guinea pig (well mostly about the guinea pig) at Christmas. So once again Memorial Day found us in Annapolis and on the boat. And while there wasn't any wind (or actually a sail to sail with if we had wind) Raif got to go out on the water as we motored around the Chesapeake for an afternoon.


The kids enjoyed all manners of water play - both appropriately dressed


and not so much...

Not to mention getting soaked in some water fountains...


I also got to see my friend Robert and his family for lunch and we got to spend the night with Raif's Godparents whom we hadn't seen since our wedding. All in all a pretty action packed vacation.

At Least Someone is Benefiting From My Labor....

So I am sure that everyone has been waiting with bated breath to hear how my garden is doing. As spring turns to summer the warmer weather has been great for my garden and I have started to see the fruits of my labor....sort of.

Before I went to Kansas we were just getting strawberries to turn in the garden. Perfect I thought, when the kids and I got back we could have a nice strawberry picking party. And indeed when I came back I saw a bounty of bright red strawberries in my garden. Upon closer inspection though I found a slight problem. I didn't get to them first. Apparently, we have a rabbit in our yard who has taken it upon himself to eat my strawberries. This fact was confirmed by our neighbor boy, who was out when I was lamenting over my garden and excitedly explained to me that he saw a bunny there just the other day. Instead of eating the entire strawberry he has been ever so kind to simply take one bite out of each berry leaving a good chunk of the berry behind so I know exactly how many strawberries I DON'T get. Thoughtful this bunny, don't you think?

I have looked on-line at humane/organic ways (ie ways not to poison us or the dogs) to get rid of them and here is what I found....

1) Spray cayenne pepper on the strawberries (doable but annoying since I have to spray it on after every time I water).

2) Drizzle dog/cat urine around the perimeter of the garden (yeah, I am thinking that following my dogs around with a cup trying to catch their pee is about as comic as it is infeasible).

3) Drizzle human urine around the perimeter (I thought this was the simplest idea but my husband showed little interest in whipping it out in the backyard and I don't trust my sons aim not to mention the fight that would ensue with Quinn wanting to do it too - sigh)

So for now it looks like I am going to have spicy strawberries though if I lose a lot more I may try some Merlot and a BB gun from my deck!!

But hey, I have lots of other plants, right? My tomatoes have started to come in, so all is not lost. Yesterday afternoon I spied several cherry tomatoes on the verge of being ready to pick and thought the kids would enjoy picking those almost as much as strawberries, since they love cherry tomatoes. But once again I was a day late and a dollar short. Though this time it wasn't the rascally rabbit that was the veggie thief but rather my faithful companion and best friend for the last decade - Guinness. I went out last night to bring him in and found him sitting in my garden happily picking the tomatoes off of my plants like he was at a salad bar.

So to recap -

Rabbit - 20 strawberries
Guinness - 5 cherry tomatoes
Me - countless hours of manual labor and two small slightly pathetic roma tomatoes.

Just call me Mr. MacGregor.

Like Father Like Son

Earlier this week Quinn had a little bug and so while I tended to her the 'men' decided to make dinner for us. I went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water for Quinn and look what I discovered....


My husband teaching Greyson how to handle a knife. For those of you who know my husband well (anyone remember the pig roast where he spent the afternoon at the ER?) this may scare the living daylights out of you, it did me. Thankfully though all fingers were intact by the time dinner was on the table. While Greyson has seemed to inherit Raif's looks and his love of hockey lets hope he hasn't inherited his knife skills!!

The Boy Does Have a Point

Yesterday afternoon we sat down to write thank you notes to Ms. Susie and Mr. Rodger for our day on the farm.

Me: All right, lets sit down and write a thank you note to Ms. Susie and Mr. Rodger for letting us spend the day on the farm.

Greyson: And to Smokey too??

Me: No Sweetie we just need to write it to Ms. Susie and Mr. Rodger we don't need to write a thank you note to Smokey (the horse).

Greyson: But Mommy I rode on Smokey, not Ms. Susie.....

PBR - There is a new Sheriff in Town

As I mentioned in our last post we spent the day out at our friends the LaBeth's farm while in Kansas. Rodger and Susie's son Dusty is a professional bull rider and as such has some of his training equipment out on the farm. At much cajoling, mostly on my part, Raif and I convinced the kids that they should try the mechanical bull. They both reluctantly agreed. I can't say that we have inspired any future bull riders (especially in Quinn based upon the look on her face) but at least they have done something that not many preschoolers have experienced!!

The Farm

THE highlight of our Kansas trip every year is our visit to the farm. Though my parents sold our family farm years ago, some dear friends of ours, the LaBeths, graciously allow us each year to invade and spend a day getting back to my roots.

And the highlight of the highlight is getting to ride Smokey.


But at the LaBeth's farm there is no free ride - after Smokey there are chores to be done....


Cleaning Augie, the last of my family's horses

Taking Snowball, the goat, out to pasture


Feeding the rest of the horses

All in all we couldn't have asked for a better end to our Kansas vacation. Thanks Rodger and Susie - as always for a wonderful day.

The Worst Salesman Ever

About two o'clock this afternoon there was a knock at my door. I opened to find the TruGreen Lawn dude (TGLD) standing at my door.

TGLD: Good afternoon my name is (yeah I can't remember). I was in your neighborhood servicing some of your other neighbors and wanted to know whether you would like to be put on our route.

Me: I am not interested but thank you.

TGLD: May I ask why you aren't interested?

Me: Well, my husband works on our lawn and I think he does a pretty good job by himself.

TGLD: (Turns and surveys our lawn). Why yes, your lawn looks in pretty good shape.

Awkward pause

Me: OK, well in that case thanks for stopping by.

Door shuts.