To The Moon

Ladybugs, Ladybugs, and More Ladybugs

Last week we released a 1,000+ ladybugs into the garden to help eat the 'bad' bugs, although I think they have all flown off by now, we'll see....

Before...

This is a garden "before" photo, the "after" to be posted in late August.  The kids have helped me plant lots of seeds both here at the house and at the plot we share with our neighbors in the Stapleton Community Garden.  Both Georgia and Wyatt have also been a great help in keeping things watered, I think they like spraying each other as much as the plants!  Hopefully the "after" photos will be filled with sunflowers, watermelon, zucchini, corn, tomatoes, tomatillos, carrots, zinnias, basil, rosemary, thyme, chives, and italian parsley....yummmm.

And then there were two....

"... don't come out without a TOAD!" SB

Well, Sheba, our toad, is back.  The toad from last fall hibernated in our window well over the winter and reappeared this spring.  Wyatt has been having fun 'taking care of' him, feeding him grasshoppers (live and canned from Pet Smart), filling his water bowl, and today deciding not to close the window after some friendly play chasing him around the window well.  After returning from some errands, I notice the open window and no toad in sight.  And so the search and recovery efforts commenced (which if you remember all of the toys in our basement proved to be a rather daunting task).  Georgia, Wyatt, & I searched under furniture, checked corners, overturned baskets, baskets, and more baskets of toys.....checked over blankets, books, train sets, play kitchens, the works.  Then, heading upstairs, and about to throw in the towel, a small shadow caught my eye coming from the bathroom...Sheba.   I grabbed a container for Wyatt and sent him in, "don't come out without a TOAD!"  A little game of cat and mouse ensued, but in no time flat Wyatt emerged with Sheba in hand.    

It's Hot

"I Loooove Worms!" WB

"I'm Happy!!"

We started off summer with our first camping trip of the season last weekend with our neighbors Marc, Janis, Dillon, and Emma (and one of Evan's latest toys, a new car-top carrier for all of the gear)!  After arriving at the campsite, unpacking a bit, and settling in to eat dinner, Georgia leans into Evan and excitedly proclaims, "I'm happy!!!"    Even later that evening in the tent as she crawled into her sleeping bag she said it again, this time, and I quote, "I'm so happy, excited and happy!"  The kids all had fun racing pine cones in the creek that ran by the campsite, eating smores by the fire, and pumping water from the well.  We also went fishing (Evan caught 2!) and did a little bit of hiking.  The view from Panorama Point was amazing.  Wyatt was sad to head home Sunday saying that he wanted to stay for 4 nights.  So, more camping to come in the near future.

 

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Rainbow cake designed by Wyatt and "it has candles on it," says Georgia.  Happy 39 (sure....)!!

Wyatt's "Eric Carle" Book

Title Page - The Author's Self-Portrait, Wyatt

Page 1 - Butterflies flying at night with moon.  He flies to the ground.

Page 2 - Ants digging tunnels to the top.  The grass is up there.

Page 3 - Ladybug flying in the day sun and rain.

Page 4 - Ladybug eats the aphids on the leaf.

Grandma & Grandpa Brooks Visit!

So, I've fallen a little behind, but hope to add a few updates this week...

Grandma & Grandpa Brooks came to visit in May and we all had a wonderful and busy time!!

The weekend included a trip to the Denver Botanic Gardens which was beautiful and a bit windy and chilly.   Georgia's fleece hat blew off and sank to the bottom of the fish pond.  Luckily, a nice man found a large stick to scoop it out.  The kids thought that was pretty fun and have been talking about it since.  

We met Brooke and Gary and their 3 kids at BoonDocks one evening for fun with go-carts, miniature golf, laser-tag, etc (and yes, that's Georgia on hole 18 throwing a fit since the course took her ball away, even other on-lookers took pictures)!!  Grandma & Grandpa took the kids to the zoo where the highlights included the elephants and feeding the baby geese Cheerios!  We also had time for a picnic at the new 'Central Park' here in the neighborhood, which is only similar to the one in NYC in name, but does have a huge and funky playground for the kids, playing fields, a boat pond, fountain, and pavilion for concerts.  We had a great time singing Happy Birthday to celebrate Grandpa's 70th, had a Mother's Day brunch made by Ev, and were able to get a lot of gardening done (& thank you, thank you, thank you for helping with the kids so we could dig a million holes!)!  Thanks for coming to visit, we all had a great time!!  Some pictures taken by Grandpa with his new camera follow....sorry I haven't figured out the collage thing yet on this blog, maybe Karen can fill me in (are you using Picasa to do that?).  Hope all is well with everyone!!  Miss you.  Shannon