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Category Archives summer

Bunnies, birds and hail

Posted on July 23, 2009 4:38 pm by TheAngelForever

Each year we seem to have our issues with plants and flowers that we try to grow. Two years ago we tried sunflowers and a bunny family attacked them. We bought some natural pepper spray to keep them away. Last year we planted some more sunflowers and lily plants in pots on our front patio. Although safe from bunnies, the neighborhood flock of birds seems to enjoy destroying them.

We have been discouraged, but have never given up trying new things each year. In April for Earth Day we planted some daffodils and then soon after more gorgeous lily plants. The daffodils did really well until the heat wave at the end of April and start of May. The flowers went away, but we knew that next year we would have more gorgeous flowers. Unfortunaltely, that pesky bunny family is back. They have destroyed the daffodil plants and even the bulbs were pulled up. Grrrrr!

After we were home from Disney World we decided to try planting some other items in big pots on our patio. At first we bought two tomato and one jalapeno plants. Then NHL and JL went out and bought a zucchini, cucumber and peppermint plant to add to the mix. Thanks to the constant rain, and even some hail (seen below), the plants have had a tough time.

JL has replanted a few of them several times because they were way too saturated and smelling like sulfur. To our amazement, the jalapeno plant has been quite hearty. It has grown nicely and we have already picked our first pepper. Check them out here:

1. Pepper and cucumber plants, 2. Ready to be picked, 3. Spicy find in our plant

The cucumber plant has been hit really hard, along with one of the tomato plants. The odd thing is the cucumber plant has gorgeous flowers each morning in recent days. The other tomato plant has a lot of flowers, but nothing visible in the fruit department just yet.

Two days ago I took a closer look at the zucchini plant and noted that there were the start of five or more little vegetables growing. They really are so cute!

1. Zucchnini plant, 2. Baby zucchnini

With any luck the weather will cooperate a little more, the animals will stay away and soon we will have some fruits and vegetables that are home grown to enjoy. For now I will continue to enjoy the gorgeous Tiger Lillies that are also spreading along the side of our house.

Who knew, I actually like something that is orange!

Categories:
flowers and plants house jl looking back photos summer weather

Summer finally arrives…for now

Posted on July 18, 2009 9:49 pm by TheAngelForever

This summer has been a wild ride. It has rained almost every day. The sun barely has time to come out before another storm is passing by the area. Seriously, it has not felt like summer some days. Not only do you need a jacket to walk outside in the morning, but by late day temperatures are hardly into the 70’s. Sure, our AC units are not cranking away as much as we may need them and the humidity has not been up to the usual pea soup. Still, it would be nice to be able to go outside more and let the boys have fun during this so called summer.

Today the sun actually came out and it was warm enough to take out the kiddie pool for the boys to play in. NHL had gone in it the other day while JSL was napping. Today, we made a point to try to keep the little guy awake to go in the pool for some fun in the sun. When we got home from some errands, JL got the pool ready. Meanwhile, I took the boys into the house to get them in their bathing suits and sun lotion.

The water was quite cool from the hose. My toes decided they were not going in, so I was the designated photographer of the fun. At first, the boys just had fun playing with the water and watching it.

Then the little guy decided to try to splash his big brother. Not a really smart thing to do considering NHL had the much larger bucket, but what can you do? Clearly, JSL will learn since he is only two.

Of course, another thing the little guy needs to learn is NOT to drink pool water. ICK! Who knows what was in that sucker in reality. Oh, and the more we told him not to. . . it became a game.

Soon, JSL learned how to maximize his water spray to make more fun water displays.

The really big kid had fun playing with the boys in the pool. Of course, he decided to rain on JSL’s parade.

Soon, both of the boys were ganging up on JL and getting him soaked. NHL had the easiest job of this thanks to the big buckets of cold water!

After a few too many buckets from NHL, JL decided to get NHL back. I don’t think he was completely expecting this.

A special thanks to Mimi for the fun new pool toy that the boys enjoyed.

All three of my boys had a fun time soaking in the sun rays for several hours in our front yard. With any luck, this will not be yet another tease from Mother Nature.

Categories:
fun jl jsl laughs my boys nhl photos play time summer weather weekend

Character photo crusade at Six Flags

Posted on July 13, 2009 10:00 pm by TheAngelForever

Last year when we went to Six Flags NHL wanted nothing to do with the characters walking around the park. He would shut down and refuse to move if they were close. Eventually we proved to him that if he did not go to them, they were not going to approach him. When we booked our trip to Disney World in May we were a little nervous. We figured by the end of the trip NHL would either need therapy or would finally get over his fear of the big costumes.

Over the week at Disney World we slowly moved our way up to the characters. Things did not go well at our initial dinner the night we arrived. The screams at Chef Mickey coming from our table were quite loud from both of the boys. Soon after we managed to get the boys with Pocohontas and do a family photo with Lilo and Stitch. JL went into some photos (like Buzz Lightyear) with both JSL and NHL to continue the progress. By the end of the week NHL was running to Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto and Goofy!

We were curious to see how NHL would do when we went back to Six Flags on Sunday. Would he gravitate to the Looney Tune characters and Wiggles favorites? He talked about seeing Henry, Dorothy, and Wags all the way up.

When we walked into the park several of the characters were waiting to meet and greet people. Daffy Duck was first. NHL was not too sure about this. As you will see JL jumped into the shot, after handing a screaming terrified JSL back to me.

Next up was Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. JL casually moved back of of the shot and NHL was fine with it.

When we went to Wiggles World he saw Captain Feathersword and Dorothy come out and RAN to them. Victory was ours!

After the Wiggles show he finished off getting some additional photos with the rest of the Wiggles gang including the Wiggly Dancer.

Later on we caught up with Sylvester, the Tazmanian Devil and Pepe Le Pew.

Then right when we were leaving we saw the Six Flags guy from the wacky commercials. Even JSL thought he was kind of funny and did not scream.

We will see if JSL will warm up to the characters. We figure seeing his big brother happy this year should help. Season passes and more opportunities should also keep things going in the right direction, but only time will tell.

Categories:
Disney fun jl jsl looking back my boys nhl photos summer weekend

Follow the M&M Road

Posted on July 12, 2009 11:04 pm by TheAngelForever

Today was supposed to be a gorgeous day. Thanks to a little pressure from Nana, we decided to take the boys to Six Flags. In the fall, we upgraded our tickets to season passes for 2009. Prior to this, we had not gone this summer season. We arrived by Six Flags at about noon and went to a pizza place for a quick much less expensive lunch. Then we went back to the park. Thanks to our parking pass we did not have to pay almost $10 for a space. We bought nothing at the park. I had packed some snacks in our bag and lugged our Nalgene water bottles to refill.

We had a very nice time at the park. The boys loved Wiggles World, Looney Tunes kid area, and NHL had fun getting his photos taken with all of the characters. JL and NHL loved getting soaked on the Raging River and we all had a blast on the Bobsled ride. Lots more photos to come soon. Tonight I will leave you with some photos of the M&M Road that we found. As we were going over the bridge I could not help myself and think: "Follow the M&M Road. Follow the M&M Road. Follow, follow, follow, follow…follow the M&M Road!"

Here are some more photos of the very bright and colorful M&M Road over the bridge.

More photos and tales from the weekend coming soon.

Categories:
fun jl jsl my boys nhl photos summer

Tennis time with 15-Love

Posted on July 7, 2009 9:47 am by TheAngelForever

When I was growing up the neighborhood kids used to play tennis a lot. At first we would simply hit the bouncing yellow ball around the street in front of our houses. As we got older we bought more sophisticated tennis rackets and started to play on actual tennis courts. My brother and I used to go to play for fun during the summer months and would have a great time.

Several weeks ago NHL came home from school with the paper advertising a program called 15-Love. I had heard fabulous things about 15-Love and was intrigued. They actually have a beginner programs for children that are 4-6 years old. From their website: " 15-LOVE’s mission is to serve inner-city youth, ages 4 and up. We welcome everyone, of every background and tennis ability, including summer lessons for adults." The program for kids is 30-60 minutes once a week and at a park close to where we live. It seemed like a nice option to add to NHL’s summer.

Last week we went to the first session. I was floored with how many children showed up. It was a nice sized group of 4-6 year olds, plus a lot in the next age group. Clearly 15-Love had done a great job getting the word out about their program for the kids of this area.

NHL was very excited. He has never played tennis before, unless you count using the Wii. He quickly ran onto the court to learn all about tennis. The kids did some drills where they walked the tennis ball "dog" up and down the court, dribbled the ball with their rackets and listened to the instructors.

1. Waiting for directions, 2. Walking the tennis ball, 3. Taking the "dog" down the cour, 4. Enjoying the activity, 5. Trying to bounce the ball, 6. Showing he is listening

The instructors were fabulous. They were patient with the kids, really explained things in child friendly terms and they were not afraid to work with the kids when they were frustrated with an activity.

At the end of the hour NHL declared that he loved tennis. He talked about going to buy his own tennis racket. I asked him if he was excited to come again and he said he could not wait! Of course JSL may have a different opinion. The little guy was definitely bored just watching everything going on. Eventually he got out of his stroller and found a stray tennis ball that kept him amused …along with his shadow.

1. Having fun with a tennis ball and shadow, 2. Hey Mom look at me, 3. Running near the court

This week I will definitely bring some items to keep JSL entertained more while NHL is out on the court. I do not want to see this little face pouting again.