garden fresh

I just love gardens. I love the idea of a garden. And I have a (sad excuse for a) garden in my backyard. These glorious vegetables are from my neighbor Sharon's garden. Holy zucchini! She brought them over today, and so for dinner I grilled up one of the squash and a couple slices of zucchini. Yum.

Not to be outdone, I must show off my own garden. I planted a grape vine three years ago, and this year it finally produced fruit. These grapes aren't very big, and many of them have been feeding the birds. But, maybe next year they will be larger and sweeter. I have a little tomato plant as well, but it hasn't produced tomatoes yet. The only other thing that has grown are some herbs... parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Well, maybe not rosemary. That died. But there's also basil and cilantro.

I'm vowing to get some good soil in there and really have a nice garden next year. I want squash as big as Sharon's. And I want to be able to share all the extra produce with my neighbors. Ooh, and if I could have fresh fruit and vegetables without going to the grocery store, I'd be so very happy. I just wish I could grow avocados here: why do they have to be so expensive, yet so irresistibly yummy?

525,600 minutes

Brooklyn is a happy one year old girl. She has two bottom teeth and four half top teeth. Her favorite food is saltine crackers. She can say "baba" (bottle) and "mama", and tries to say dog. She loves her big brother Ethan, who makes her laugh. Brooklyn is the perfect baby, staying in her crib and happily playing every morning until I go in to get her. She likes to clap her hands and chant, Jenna calls this the clapping game. She likes to suck her thumb and is content to fall asleep anywhere as long as she has it with her. Our little princess can crawl anywhere she wants to go, including up the stairs (yikes!). She has done a ton of growing and learning this year, it makes me wonder how much more we could accomplish if we kept up that pace our whole lives. She is an amazing little girl. Happy birthday, sweetest princess Brooklyn!

camping and swimming

We had a ward activity this weekend. We went to Cherry Hill, where we had dinner, and then camped overnight. Camping was really fun. We made s'mores with the kids until they couldn't eat any more. After the kids went to bed we sat around the campfire and played Catchphrase until a woman came over from another campsite and asked us to be quiet. That's when we realized it was way past midnight. so we finally went to bed. We got up in the morning and drove to IHOP. It isn't exactly camp food, but we liked it! Even Brooklyn ate two pancakes. There is a water park attached to the campground, so we spent the day playing in a pool, and speeding down water slides. So much fun!

playing at the park

We like the little park in our neighborhood. The kids love to ride their bikes down and play. I walk, and I will have to continue to walk (instead of pedaling my own glorious pink beach cruiser) until I either get a bike trailer *hint* or Brooklyn is big enough to ride a tricycle.

I let Ethan take Brooklyn down the slide today. She didn't like it much, but it was worth a try.

Ethan can go all the way across the monkey bars, he kept doing it over and over until he blistered his hand. Ouch!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

We recently gave a pair of Ethan's old fire truck pajamas to Jenna. Ethan did NOT want to get rid of them, even though they are way too small. So we compromised: Jenna gets to wear them for him, since they fit her perfectly.

As I was tucking her into bed, se told me,

"I like my new fire truck jammas." I don't exactly know what to say, since they are so boyish, so I ask, "Do you want to be a firefighter when you grow up?" "No. I just want to be a teacher." I was happy she didn't want to do this dangerous, manly thing. So I asked simply, "What will you teach?" and then I couldn't help but laugh when she answered, very seriously,  "All the back rows."