My Garden:

So, I garden.

I am a gardener.  

Or, maybe I should say, a few gardens exist on my property this year.  And I sometimes glean from them.  :)

It was touch-and-go as to if I was even going to do it, but my lovely friend Becky held my hand through the planting process (read:  did it for me), and my other friends Tim and Karen gave me the courage and some advice to actually think I might be able to do it, and here we are.  

The ONLY thing *I* did was to spread epsom salt all over before planting, and mix it into the soil well.  I have decided to try out one crazy gardening idea each year, and that was the crazy idea for this year.  :)  I guess lots of soil is magnesium deficient, but I didn't get my soil tested this year...I just assumed it was, crossed my fingers, and tossed it out there.  :)  (I'm getting my soil tested next year--it's only $15 at the UofM and worth it, I'm sure, in the long run...).  Sweeeeeeeet crazy success for the non-gardener who doesn't even care enough to research much about it! :)

I have two gardens.  And we're EATING from them!  It's just so crazy!! 

Here is a harvest of basil.  I cut of the top of every one of my plants.  I'm going to make pesto.  EXCITED.

Layla helping me pick the leaves off the stems.  

She was a big help.  Finn was NO help.  

Washed and drying.  

Hannah's flowers.  

Another pot of Hannah's flowers.  

My basil and tomato garden.  5 tomato plants, TONS of basil plants.  

You can see I just cut the tops off.  

Frankly, seeing things growing in my yard is still sort of a shock to me.  

Why is it a shock, you ask?  

Well, I've never exactly been known for having a green thumb.  I've only ever been able to keep two plants alive.  In my LIFE.  So, my friend planted the garden for me, and I've watered it about 3 times so far this year (rainy spring = bonus for me), and weeded maybe twice.  Nothing should really survive that kind of treatment...but it all HAS!  :)

FIRST fruits of cucumbers.  

Cauliflower.  For those who, you know, have never seen one.  ;)

Green peppers.  

A long shot of my back garden.  I smushed it all together back there, but I have:  green peppers, cucumbers, cauliflower, melons, squash, beans, peas, and something else...I forget.  

Opposite view.   

My total first fruits:  I've had basil forever now, but these are my first tomatoes, green pepper, and cucumber.  

This past weekend: a picnic lunch on our way home, on the shore of Lake Superior.

It takes no imagination at all for me to pretend that we're in Anne of Green Gables land here.  

Also, I love this video of Layla.  It's like you can SEE her imagination working.  She is off in some far-away land, doing amazing things in tall grasses.  :)  

Me?  I stayed on the path.  I saw Jurassic Park 2.  STAY OUT OF THE TALL GRASS, PEOPLE!  Step #1 to staying alive.  For realzies.  

This past weekend: our adventure hike in the woods.

This was simply beautiful.  :)  Sigh.  

This past weekend: The hot tub.

This video contains:  Layla showing off, Finn being adorbs, LOTS of cuteness contained in one small hot tub.  Also, several very patient men.  :)

This past weekend: The Washburn Festival near Bayfield

We went to check out the Washburn festival right as they were closing, but the kids bouncy area was kept open much longer (as it's a sure money-maker, I'm guessing).  The kids had a great time in the bouncy castle and the giant slide.  

This past weekend: a park in Bayfield, and the Maritime Museum.

This past weekend we went up to Bayfield, WI, to spend time with the Gustafsons at their cabin.  It was a really nice weekend!  The weather was in the mid 50's to mid 70's--perfect for exploring, if I do say so myself.  :)  It felt like a journey into Fall in the middle of Summer.  

Here we are in downtown Bayfield, at a park right by the water/ferry.  

Checking out the Maritime Museum:

Finn was a bit obsessed with this wheel--he kept singing the theme song from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," if you can catch it here:

Happy Birthday, Grammy!

Layla, the cooperative child, wishes Grammy Happy Birthday:

Finn thought about it for 2 seconds, but then...there was that darn technology sitting there...

(I interrupted both of their "rest times" to take these videos, so that was my own fault.  I should have gotten them later on, and maybe gotten them wound up to blow out candles...maybe we'll try again later!)

Layla's first time meeting Grammy:

Finn's first time meeting Grammy:

We're still holding out hope to see you sometime this summer or fall, Grammy! :)

Our friend Z:

Every few months the Rydbecks return home from their "home" in Seattle, and we get to spend lots of time during the day with Zoey.  :)  It's GREAT fun for the kids, especially now that our backyard is full of interesting things to do, and the basement has all sorts of vehicles in it.  Rachael and Zoey are in town this time from Sunday through this Friday.  

Today I took the kids out to Cub (where they each got a balloon), then to Costco (where they each got a cookie), and then after unloading the groceries we headed out to Phalen Park for some swinging/sliding.  No one loves to swing more than Z! :)  

Tonight we're going to head back over to the lake for some swimming and a picnic dinner with Rachael.  Did I mention that we love the lake?  I can't quite remember... ;)

My little fish.

Layla simply amazes me every summer.  She is DRAWN to the water.  

 Last summer it was the no-fear swimming with the water wings, jumping in, getting her face and eyes wet, etc.  This summer it's lots of swimming without water wings (and some with, of course...but sometimes at the lake we let her go without to start getting used to that too...), putting her face in the water, and just this past Friday she decided she wanted to swim under water.  She holds her breath for 6-8 seconds at a time, fully submerges her head, and kicks and swims to a different destination.  

Behold the power of no swimming lessons, people!  :)  

This was her first day of doing it.  On Sunday we went to Dan's pool and they swam for four hours.  The ENTIRE 4 hours was spent in the pool.  No joke.  I tried to get out every now and then, just to sit on the side and relax, and Finn would throw a little fit, grab my hand, and insist I join them in the pool again.  :)  She was a pro at underwater swimming by then, but here she is on the first day, just putting her head in there and showing her lack of fear.  

I don't know who taught her this, still...kids at the lake?  Claire and Anja?  Older kids/peer pressure has MANY positive uses...

Some beach time:

Finn had SO much fun when we were at our lake swimming yesterday, so I decided to go again today...why not, right?

UGH.

Why not.

FINN.  He has been really, extremely crabby, clingy, and needy for the past 2 weeks.  Part of me thinks he is getting over some "being left" issues internally (after J and I went to Chicago), especially since he wants me to hold him all the time and cries for me all the time now, and he was never like that before.  

Part of me thinks he was maybe getting sick, or teething--two year molars, maybe?--but come on.  Two weeks?  I'm doubting this.

Part of me worries that Finn is going to be a cranky two-year-old!  Maybe it's juts being TWO!  Gah!  Layla never really had a "bad year" like many two or three-year-olds seem to have.  She had two bad months before turning two, and two bad months before turning three, but not whole YEARS.

Finn cried, whined, and did his utmost to disrupt the peace the entire time we were swimming.  Here is one video I managed to get.  Layla, of course, just had fun and was a doll.  ;)

The Children's Museum on a hot Summer day...

She would not stop bringing bubbles to wash in the nice clean playing water.  *picking my battles*  ;)

Grocery shopping:

Playing in the baby area:

This one had me giggling.  Finn, loving being dressed up as a Safari Dude.  He did it all himself too, or maybe Layla helped him?  I didn't...

This is one of their FAVORITE places--a fake video jam session.  ;)  Layla always wants the song BINGO and gets so annoyed when anyone else changes it...which is about every 20 seconds.  Finn is just obsessed with the guitars...

In the forest room:

Pretending they are a Carlson child, rock climbing:

Layla loves to tell me things to tell Finn.  It's her favorite form of pretending these days...

In the Dora and Diego room:

Siblings on the slide:

Boy Cousins

I'm pretty sure these two little boys could not get any cuter.  

Henry has been eyeing up Finn's hat for the past few weeks, but Finn is a little territorial, so Renee got Henry one of his own.  

Bam.  Instant coolness times two.

Please ignore Finn wearing socks with sandals.  Papa dressed Finn.  ;)

Also, now that I look at this picture, everything on Finn is smaller/tighter! Ha! :)  His shorts are shorter, his shirt is tighter, his hat is smaller--shrunk from having gone in the Pool with Finn one too many times, I'm sure--this is fantastic.  

Play dates are the best.

We love the people in our Life Group (small group) at church, so I was delighted when 90% of them could show up for a rather spontaneous play date at our house today.  :)

Our group is 6 couples, and the 6 couples have 17 kids.  It's fantastic.  :)  Here  is a small clip of a play date in our backyard with 14 of those kids running in and out...

Uncle Eric is majorly in the lead. Anyone want to bump him down?? ;)

Uncle Eric was home with the family from June 30th-July 8th.  As he was nearing his departure time he decided that he needed to solidify his role as Most Favorite Uncle of All Time, so we went and purchased the Horsman kids and the Schaefer kids an electronic vehicle.  

Can you REMEMBER as a kid...how bad did you want one of those?  I would have probably killed something for one.  :)  

So, here it is...the grand unveiling of the kids cars, and the moment Uncle Eric solidified the reputation of Greatest Uncle Ever.  

The cars do both go faster than shown here, but they hadn't been charged long enough by the time the kids wanted to ride them...

Sadly, Finn thought that the black car was HIS.  :)  

The kids last week:

Layla:
Finn went to bed extra early one night, and I needed to go to the grocery store to get some 4th of July prep food, so Layla came with me.  She spotted this balloon, and the rest was history.

#1:  Please notice the dress I got her to wear.  Amazing.

#2:  Please notice the major CHEESE smile she is learning.  

Ah, there she is...at least a little closer to normal.  :)

This was a Rapunzel balloon that she found while we were grocery shopping together.  You should have SEEN her doing princess twirls and spins while walking next to my cart.  Good thing she had the room to do that, as we went at night.  ;)

Finn:
Why did Finn go to bed extra early that night, you ask?  Well, this was the day he woke up at 3:00 a.m. for no good reason.  He was pleasant, but not going back to bed. So, around 3:30 this afternoon he CRASHED.  Hard.  ;)  Here he is on the chair, with his school bus, fast asleep.  I think I even vacuumed around him.  ;)  Then he went right back to bed around 6:45 p.m. and slept the whole night, thank goodness.  I am so glad I let go of trying to "control/manage" kids sleep long ago.  It just happens, but stuff like this happens too!  Craaaaaaaazy fun.  ;)

4th of July: The Big Party videos

4th of July morning:

On the morning of the 4th we decided to head down nice and early to our lake.  We were going to my parent's house at 3:00, so that gave us plenty of time to swim, clean up, pack, and then head over there after a bit of cleaning.  

It was PERFECTION.

The weather was amazing, the kids were in great moods, we had the entire lake almost to ourselves, and there were no bugs.  Plus a great breeze.  

Sigh.  Wonderful family time.  :)  

Check it out!  I got Layla to wear a different dress!  

The MN Zoo while Papa was gone:

We were possibly going to meet Rachel Gustafson and Co. at the MN Zoo on Saturday morning--last Saturday--but those plans fell through in favor of Monday, so the kids and I decided to go anyway.  We knew we had to LEAVE the Zoo by 11:00 a.m., so we headed out nice and early.  It was a warm day, so I was happy to avoid at least some of the heat/sunscreen-needed-time.  ;)  

Truth:  My LEAST favorite thing about summer is the applying of sunscreen to my children.  I am not a fan of intense heat, but man do I dislike the sunscreen chore.  

So here are some videos from the zoo.  We had a great time, as always.  

4th of July at Berubes

Renee took all of these, but I did get some videos, so I'll post those next:

Trying to make a black and tan...

Layla being brave with Nym.  :)

Lauren--per patriotism went FAR beyond anything the rest of us could do, as she dyed her hair for the glory of her nation.  ;)

Layla and Leah playing chase.  

The start of a great meal.  

Renee's amazing cake: whipped cream and raspberry filling.  

Finn in heaven / swinging.  

Now, to my credit, I did not BUY matching outfits for me and my daughter, BUT, I did happen to already own this clothing, and as it is required to show up in red white and blue clothes on the 4th (family rules...gotta keep 'em...), I thought..."why not? You are only a dorky mom once!"  ;)  Sigh.  Yes, yes, I know.  

Layla loved these candy coated marshmallows that Aunt Andrea made.  :)  I think she ate about 6 of them.

Patriotic fort.  

Aunt Andrea was even so sweet as to call me the night before and check how to make them dairy free so Layla  and Finn could eat them.  We LOVE HER.  :)

Unca' Jon got into them too...

Notice how Jonas follows the family rules with class  and design? ;)  Red, white, and blue class right there, folks!

I mean, come ON!  She so belongs in our family.  :)

Brave Layla.  

Some of the gang.