Imagination station

when you drive to the zoo without checking the forecast...

luckily there's an "imagination station" museum a short 10 minute drive from the zoo! rainy day turned out to be a great day after all.

Zoo

Feeding the giraffes

Yasmin's birthday, may 19th

Peer

Doodle

Garden overall

i never remember to take real "before" picture. at best i remember to take pictures at some point at the beginning of a project, in this case -- after we started digging out some of the plants in the old herb garden. 

these guys that we dug out (two types of basil, sage, and scallions) come back every year, and really thrive. 

creatures appear when you dig a hole in the garden. Ella made new roly poly friends. 

the survivor plants were placed in plastic bags for the duration of their home renovation. we put in a new box.

...filled it with some good gardening mix

and put the residents back in their home, approximately where they used to live.

lots of room for new plants, and maybe some vegetables this year!

to come: parsley, basil, arugula, cilantro; vegetables TBD. possibly tomatos. 

Beautiful

Dancing

Daniel's first day at his new classroom

Dentist Ella

Back to normal

"Snow" went back in the bean bag

Play date

Birthday party!

see the full picture album here

Spring

Flip

And the new wood chip padding in the swingset area, in case flips dond end as well :)

Driver's Seat

Daniel helped me out at Lowes yesterday.

Invitations

Ella hand made invitations to her birthday party, and gave them to all her classmates.

Daniel and Grady play fetch

Grady was a hero. The younger Grady would have appreciated this more.

4th Birthday Party: Part I

We had Ella's first 4th birthday party today; the second will come next week at our house. Grandpa grilled burgers, hotdogs, and an eggplant, and Grandma made potato salad without celery and boiled some corn on the cob. "Guys, I didn't have my birthday yet because I didn't have my cupcake. Then I will have my birthday and be 4."

Daniel found a corn-on-the-cob* pacifier, and spent most of the party moving the wheelbarrow in and out of the house. 

*He carried it around for several hours after, dropping it, and switching hands to the hand that held Grady's black-slime-covered football. We're thinking it felt good on a few tender back teeth.

View

Not a bad view from my office today