I'm melting

It is so unbelievably hot here. I would have never thought that the weather forecast would show 110 degrees as the temperature where I live. Hello, I live in the Pacific Northwest for a reason.

Lovey went to spend a few days with Grandpa to go fishing. I am jealous. It is cooler there. If I didn't have to work tonight, I would be there too. Lovey cried though because he was missing the 100 degree weather. I think he managed to get his 100 degrees because one of the stops on his way to Grandpa's it was 104.

Littlebit and I just sit in front of the fans and watch tv or play with a few toys. Who wants to exert themselves. Ugh. Yesterday evening we picked up Big Daddy from work and went to the mall. We weren't the only ones there. Littlebit played on the toys there for awhile. We didn't come home until 8 and it was in the 90s outside and 88 downstairs in the house! I don't know what we will do today when it is supposed to be about 10 degrees hotter. We may have to hit the library. Big Daddy and Littlebit will probably watch movies at his office while I work tonight. At least there will be a/c at both of our offices.

There is not much relief in sight as the ten day forecast doesn't show anything below the 80s. The average high for this time of year is what we are getting at night as our low. This is crazy and I think I am melting!

Trip to the beach

What do you do when the temperatures are supposed to be in the high 80s, you have two little kids, and it is daddy's day off? You drive to the beach.

The ocean is just over an hour away, so we packed lunch, sand toys, a kite, swim suits and towels and drove to the beach on Friday. We ate our lunch in the car and arrived at the beach around noon. It was still cloudy and cool, but soon the weather turned sunny. We started out parked on the beach, but ended up moving the car because the tide was coming in. We moved it just in time too because just after Big Daddy drove the car off the beach, the waves rolled in about five more feet to where our car was parked! It caught everyone parked around us by surprise I think.
We built a sandcastle that was quickly knocked down by the waves and flew a kite. Littlebit is usually my water baby, but I don't think she liked the waves. Lovey, who is usually more timid, kept running out into the water. He was knocked down by the waves once and couldn't get up and he drank some water. I was pleased that he didn't panic though. He just kept lifting he head up until I could get to him. He was closer to the beach than I was. I ended up with very wet pants. Good thing I brought a change of clothes.

I was happy to see my kids enjoying the beach and the water. The delight on their faces brought joy to my heart. This was the beach where I lived until I was eight and I loved it. After the beach we drove around the little town. Each time we are there I like to drive by my old home. I was sad to see that the playhouse had been taken down. It was still there when we drove by three years ago. I can't believe all of the houses around it, I missed the house the first time we drove by. I was looking for the playhouse.

We enjoyed milkshakes and fries on our drive home. Going to the beach was on our summer checklist and now we could check it off. Maybe we will go back again soon.

Must be doing something right

The other night I made baked fennel with Gorgonzola cheese and orzo pasta with pancetta for dinner. I wasn't sure the kids would eat it, so there were leftover hot dogs in the fridge too. Fennel is one of those things that you like it or you don't. Well to my surprise when I came home that night, Lovey told me he loved that onion dish (fennel - it looked like onions). He said he could gobble it right up.

At school Lovey announced that his favorite meal is smoked Gouda mac and cheese with spinach. What kid says he likes spinach?

Sometimes I wonder about my kids taste buds. We have had a lot of hot dogs this summer between BBQs and camping, but that is usually the only time we have hot dogs in the house. Now they love hot dogs, especially corn dogs, but it makes me happy when my son gets excited for apple pizza or their recent favorite of thai chicken pizza. When I buy hot dogs, Lovey thanks me over and over.

On Friday we had an afternoon of milkshakes, taffy, and french fries. Both kids were sick that night. It is not often we eat something like that and I'm sure their stomachs handled it well.

These things aren't banned in my home. There are pospsicles and ice cream in the freezer and chips and cookies in the pantry right now. We just space out when they are consumed. I enjoy cooking for my family and trying new things, so I am excited that they like to eat a variety of things. Even if Littlebit requests peanut butter and jelly crackers for lunch everyday and Lovey wants cinnamon toast for breakfast every morning, I know they get variety at dinner.

Laundry room sign

A few years ago, I saw a sign for a laundry room that had a saying that made me laugh. I have seen it a few times since then, but I just didn't want to pay the $30. So I found some wood in garage, had Big Daddy router the edges, and painted it with a sample can of paint I bought for $4 for another project. I used left over craft paint for the letters and made my own sign. I can't wait to hang it in the laundry room. Now if only my free Gliddon paint would arrive and then I could paint the room first.

Camping

A few weekends ago we went camping with three other families. There were 17 of us total. Eight adults and 9 kids. We went to a state park with a creek on the canal. The kids had a great time riding their bikes and scooters and playing in the creek. They wanted to swim in the canal, but each time we would go, it would be low tide and the oysters would cut their feet.
We planned on taking the kids swimming in the canal on Saturday night, but while we were changing we heard thunder. We waited awhile and since the cloud seemed to pass over us and there was blue sky we went down to the canal. As the kids were getting in, we saw lightening. We decided everyone had to get out and we would try again in the morning. It rained on and off with a bit of thunder and lightening, but ended soon. At 6am we woke up to a huge clap of thunder, I think Lovey was the only one to sleep through it and he had gone to bed with a migraine. We got up and took down our tent and left by 9:30. As we started driving off, it started to rain.

Here are 2 funny things that happened while camping:

1. My friend, Amy, killed a spider by the door of my tent. While she was killing it, she said, "You would do the same for me if it was a snake." I responded with a maybe. That afternoon while walking back from the creek, we saw a snake. She turned and ran screaming. I screamed and ran after her. Hmmm. Some friend I am.

2. Amy, Big Daddy, and I were walking back from the bathrooms in the dark and a dog started growling and running at us. The owners are yelling that he is off his leash. The dog is scary and is snarling at us. Big Daddy throws me in front of him and hides behind me. Nice. Thanks for protecting me! The owners got the dog and then said he was friendly. Sure.

Garden Tour

While making dinner last night, I went out to the garden to pick some vegetables and I decided to take pictures of the garden for a garden tour. Now our garden is not outstanding by any means. There are no awards here or people coming through for regular garden tours. It is a work in progress though and we love it. We started with some lumpy, bumpy, weedy grass and dirt and turned it to a lumpy, bumpy, weedy grass and plants. There is still a lot of work to be done, but I'm pleased with what we have accomplished so far.

Here is the hanging basket that I made from a flat of annuals from Fred Meyer. It has grown more than I expected. A hanging basket at the market was $35. I bought two flats of 48 petunias each for under $30. I filled two hanging baskets, one window box, two pots and used the plants to fill in bare spots in the front and back yard. We created the window box to give our neighbor something pretty to look at out her kitchen window. Her window looked at the side of our house and now that we have extended our fence and built a shed, it looks at the roof of the shed. I thought I would be nice and give her some flowers to look at.

Daisies. I love them along the back fence. I need to plant some more. They are mixed in with chocolate cosmos and behind a dahlia and peony. I want some more so I can have a cutting garden.

Sage. This was actually in a pot until last summer. I can't believe how much it has grown. Big Daddy wondered what I was doing when I planted it in the ground, but it blends well with the other plants around it.

Our first peach from our tree. There are about 4 peaches and 1 plum that I can see. Last year we had quite a few plums, but this is the first time we have had peaches. We thought we had placed the tree perfectly, but some of the front branches have died and the others are leaning over into the neighbors yard. We either need to turn the tree or train it to lean into our yard.

Our one lonely tomato. This one is a Roma. We have four plants, but only have a few tomatoes. I'm hoping for a lot so I can make tomato sauce and freeze it.

Our Walla Walla sweet onions. Some are doing better than others. The ones we put in the planting bed look good. The ones in the ground outside the planting bed have not done anything.

Zucchini. Lots of flowers, but no zucchini yet.

Our radishes that I think we left in the garden too long. They are a little woody.

Mmmm... Broccoli. Lovey is excited for steamed broccoli with Parmesan cheese.

Sugar snap peas. The ones on the back of the trellis did better than those on the front of the trellis. It was too hot for the ones on the front of the trellis.

Basil. I'm thinking pesto. Yum.

Lettuce waiting to be harvested. We have so much lettuce between our garden and CSA that I ate 3 salads yesterday.

I've never had so many blueberries. Some are even ripe already, but unfortunately they don't taste very good.

This is my Lady in Red hydrangea that is blue. Hmmm... I think I need to amend the soil. I love blue hydrangeas, but this one is not supposed to be blue.

I love this hydrangea. This poor plant had a large beam crash through it a few months after it was planted, but it bounced back beautifully. Blue hydrangeas are my favorite and this one, Endless Summer, blooms on old and new wood and blooms all year. We had hydrangeas and calla lilies at our wedding. I don't have any luck growing calla lilies.
The mock orange. This one was doing really well and even had flowers this year, but slowly the leaves are turning brown. I don't know what is wrong with it. Ideas?

The tomato plant in the black pot is looking sad. I don't think it gets enough sun.

Well I hope you enjoyed the small tour of my garden. Big Daddy designed it. I just add the flowers I like.

Summer to do list

I love lists. They help me stay organized and help me remember what I need to do. I love to cross off things when I have finished them. There is a sense of accomplishment to it.

I helped Lovey and Littlebit make a list of things they want to do for the summer. Lovey really wants to learn to read so that is on his list and Littlebit wants to play with a duck (?) so we added that to the list.

Some of the things we have already crossed off like camping (see the previous post) and going to the beach. We also be doing these things again.

The kids like looking at the list to see what we can do and it gives them something to look forward too.