A computer left unsupervised, not unattended

I never know what i'm going to find when i troll the files on the computer. (Note to Kenzie and Mason: Mommy will always know what you do on her computer, now and for many years into the future. Bwah ha ha.)

 

New yard...new toy

It's as if our old lawn mower looked at the new yard with impending doom, feeling its own inadequacy, and just decided to quit.

Anyway, a brand spanking new rider will get delivered on Tuesday. I'm not sure who's more excited, Cindy or Bob. Bob "borrowed" the instruction manual from the company and has read it cover to cover.

All I know is I have two people very excited about keeping the lawn neat and trimmed, and, yes, it has a cup holder.

Not just bears!

I wanted to point out that we have more wildlife than bear! This is one of the fawns that was in our yard last year with her mom and brother/sister. We have seen all three a few times already, but this was the first time that she was on her own. She is quite tame. She hung out in the yard while Cindy and I were moving plants around on the deck. She doesn't like it when we go in the meadow with her, but she's quite relaxed as long as we are within a safe distance.

Instead of going around the logs, she climbed them like a goat, stood on the top log with all four hoofs huddled together, then finally reached over to eat a branch. Kids will be kids.

Yard - done for now

The planter boxes are full, completing this stage of our yard! We also got some crabapple trees for our orchard. We're planning to fill in the rest of the area with more fruit trees. The neighbor pointed out that we're going to be feeding the bear, but I don't see that as a new problem for two reasons: (1) we're already feeding them. I left the garage door up last week and the bear came INTO OUR GARAGE overnight, opened the trash lid, removed a bag, carried it to the fence and picked out the yummies. And (2) they're already here! We've seen a bear a day, pretty much this entire week. The good news is that they run when they see us. I'm not sending Mason outside with a big raw steak, however.

How about this ball?

Mason is catcher...he tried to pull a fast one, but no luck.

Making do

We have had terrible weather this summer, but are excited to try out the new yard, which has a new fire pit! One night Mason watched the rain constantly, waiting for a break so we could go try out our new fire pit. Last night we decided to improvise. Cindy grabbed the insert and we huddled under the roof overhang. It was actually a lot of fun. The kids roasted hot dogs for dinner. And Josh made me four perfectly toasted, delicious marshmallows.

Yard remodel

We've been working on our yard! And, by that I mostly mean that we hired someone to do it, but still...

Here are the BEFORE pictures

Front yard was mushy, muddy grass

Looking off the deck toward Ed and Sandy's house

Bob and June's front yard...mostly pine needles and gravel

Right before we went to Hawaii they started removing grass...all by hand! Then it started coming together. We are not quite done yet, but it's coming together!

more mud

plants in front of June and Bob's house

Grass came this weekend

these guys work HARD

 And, current state (not quite done yet, but getting there!):

the raised bed between the two houses, and a peek at June and Bob's driveway.

Dry river bed separating our front yard from the soon-to-be-orchard

Our new patio! It will soon have a fire pit and a pergola for evening fiestas!

Rock garden

New raised bed in the center of the front yard. Frisbee now has to go to the meadow.

Bob helped us put in outdoor lighting!

once a coach...

Mason's baseball coach and assistant coach went out of town, so Cindy was asked to pitch. Both Grandpas and Grammy came to watch. This time Mason played first base.

Maui

Alright, I've procrastinated long enough. Here are some of our favorite pictures from Maui! We took so many that it was hard to sort through them all!

our limo

breakfast was with the birds, not for the birds

spinner dolphins

humpback whales - probably their last week before they head out

boogie boarding!