Gardening

The garden is coming in nicely. We are starting to get some cherry tomatoes and zucchini (why, oh why did Jay plant zucchini? Like I'm going to make zucchini bread when it's in the 90's? I guess I'll have to freeze some for later.) and some cucumbers as well. The corn is looking pretty good, as are the carrots and the onions. The jury is still out on some of the herbs and peppers we tried this year - we'll just have to see how it goes. Our bigger tomatoes should hopefully start coming in soon as well. And we expect to have tons of pumpkins this year - we did three pumpkin plants on the side of the yard and they are exploding.

William is still our Master Gardener. Nothing pleases him more than to help Jay out there - watering, weeding, picking. He loves to pick and eat raspberries straight from the bushes - we are getting alot more this year and hope to be able to do some freezer jam next year. This year it's enough to pick and eat and Jay can get enough for his morning oatmeal or smoothie. Over the weekend we grilled onions and zucchini and they were yummy. It's fun to eat things that are freshly picked from the garden.

The only thing I'm really flummoxed about is the zucchini. If you happen to find some on your front porch one morning, you don't have to say anything. You're welcome! And let me know what you do with it. I'm open to suggestions. At least it's not squash.

Happy Birthday, Jay!

Today, with the help of a Cowboy pizza (well, half Cowboy/half cheese) and some Pace bars (Jay's favorite popsicle), we celebrated Jay's 43rd birthday. Unfortunately it's been a crazy week at work for him - he got home at 7:45 pm on Monday night and 11:30 pm on Tuesday night and was up and out the door at 7:30 am today - so I don't think he's in much of a birthday mood. But the kids were excited to see him when he got home from work today.

William had been practicing his birthday sentiments all day. He greeted Jay with, "You don't look a day over 45." I don't know where he came up with that. Well, OK, I do. But it was funny. And I'm all about funny. Especially when my husband, who isn't the most birthday-centric person you'll ever meet, isn't having a good day. It made him smile, which was the point.

Happy Birthday, Jay! We love you!

Pioneer Day Fun

Saturday, our town (Hyde Park) had it's annual Pioneer Day Celebration. Pioneer Day is a Utah State Holiday, commemorating the July 24, 1847 entry of the Mormon Pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. It's a fun little holiday and our town really does it right. There are fireworks and a 5K race. There is a parade and a carnival. There is a flag ceremony (thank goodness they don't set the cannon off - that thing wakes us up every Memorial Day at 6 am) and a softball tournament. It's always a fun weekend. The parade is just perfect - lots of groups throwing candy to the kids, the local high school band, and all the Cache Valley communities send their royalty to ride on floats. It only lasts about 20 minutes, but it's really a good size parade for small children.

Tessa waiting for the parade to start:

William and Tessa enjoyed the Sky View High band:

William rode the clown ride that takes you up and down. He called it the "Tower of Terror" - he's convinced it's the same as the Disneyland ride. Yeah, not so much.


Pioneer Day isn't officially until Friday, but it was fun to have the celebration a week early. Henry missed out - he was at his Nana's house for a sleepover and some birthday shopping. Don't ask him to play Battleship with you. Trust me on this. Really.

Come and Get Me!

Here is a video of William playing at the beach. This is pretty much what he did the entire three hours we were there:

I'm not sure why he was beckoning the waves to come at him. Between his "come and get me" motions and his surfing stance, he seemed to be in his own little world. What can I say, he's a quirky kid!

The Belle Video

Here is my favorite video from Tessa's princess lunch. Tessa had a hard time warming up to the princesses at first, but by the time Belle came around, she was feeling more comfortable. I had taken their picture and then Tessa gave Belle a hug as she was leaving. I tried to get it on video and Belle saw that I didn't quite catch it, so she took an extra minute to talk to Tessa on camera and give her another hug. It was really cute.

Vacation Pictures - Part III (The Princess Lunch)

Here are the pictures of Tessa with the princesses.

With Cinderella:
With Snow White:

With Belle:

With Aurora (Sleeping Beauty):

With Ariel:

They all signed her autograph book. I've printed out the pictures and put them in her book for her and she carries it everywhere so she can look at it. She also decorated it with princess stickers.

This lunch was a highlight for me. It was so fun to see her get so excited to meet them. She didn't have too much to say to them at first, but she ended up telling Ariel about driving a car in Autopia and had a cute conversation with Belle. I'll post the videos later.

Vacation Pictures - Part II (Disneyland)

Here are a few Disneyland pictures:

This is our view as we were opening the parks. We counted down from 10 to 1 and yelled, "Let the Magic Begin".

Jay and William rode the Astro Orbiters:


Enjoying the fountain at California Adventure:

One of our favorite rides was Soarin' Over California:

One of Tessa's favorite rides was Winnie the Pooh. Here she is by the honey pots.