edmonds garden calamity

well I've been putting this off because its such a travesty.... the garden survived beautifully and produced abundantly. So whats the problem?? Well..... we had two lawn treatments over the course of 2 months and about a week after the second one, we started noticing some issues with the plants. After further research and a visit from Pete's sister (who has a degree in this stuff ;) we unfortunately had to chalk it all up to a fun family project...an inedible family project. the lawn chemicals saturated the plants through the soil and we decided it just wasn't safe to eat. The many, gorgeous tomatoes were deformed, some looking more like peppers. Even though we couldn't eat any of it, we let the girls pick and dig to at least have "the experience." The last pic below is just a portion of our "first fruits." It was truly a shame, but we did get reimbursed for our losses and we're definitely up for the challenge again next year.

(I just hope this doesn't count against me in the green thumb department - after all I did keep them mostly alive and prospering till the bitter end ;)



fair fun

the girls have been bugging us for quite some time about seeing some farm animals... so every time we make a trip to the zoo, we leave with disappointed faces "there weren't any cows or pigs!" ha.
so we decided what better place to fill the farm animal craving but the fair! in full fair-style, we endured the unbearably hot, sticky, sweaty hours by filling up on sugar filled and totally nutritious dinner food, like mini donuts, hot dogs, stromboli on a stick, ice cream, roasted corn, and of course sweet tea and shaken lemonade. in the car on the way there, i was prepping the girls on all the awesomeness that is the fair and had to spark their excitement with a full description of the famous "butter cow." Ive never heard such belly laughing and carrying-on....the thought of it to them was truly hilarious :) Though it ended up not being as big of a deal as they built up in their little minds, they fully enjoyed it along with pig races, petting zoo, horse shows, mini tractor rides, and mommy and daddy's seemingly endless wallets and "sure, why not's" to treats and spectacles. because of the lines and my overly-cautious children, we didn't get to do the one thing mommy wanted to do (I'm not bitter, I promise ;), which was re-live my childhood going down the big yellow slide over and over again, but no one (but me) seemed to mind too much. all in all it was a grand success (of something I can certainly only handle once a year...if that).  although I truly wanted to make a photo documentary of all the outstanding things and people I saw, like "Most amazing thing I saw at the fair...." "Most Ridiculous thing I saw at the fair...." "Most hilarious thing I saw at the fair......" etc. etc. I was a little too distracted to complete it.... but had I been able to do it.... I can assure you, the loaded cheeseburger sandwiched between 2 KrispyKreme donuts would have ranked up there as one of the most absurd "truly-American" things I saw.
and just in case you're wondering... no, we did NOT try one..... and yes, peter would have tried one, had he not had a very responsible and loving voice in his ear telling him he wasn't 17 anymore ;)

when asked about their favorite parts:
Remae: "the BIG pigs snorting <insert multiple adorable snorting sounds> at me"
Ellia: "those funny little pigs racing around the track"

so I guess we leave having fully enjoyed the pigs...and probably looking a little more like them in the process. ;)

it must be summa'time

it officially feels like summertime now! i know... its been summer for a while now, but we had our first fire! oh the smell of campfire. first fire of the year, first summer in our new house, first fire in our new pit on our new patio. ahhhh bliss.

(though you'll get a good glimpse...ill be posting actual patio project & reveal pics soon.... just as soon as i finally finish the landscaping and get all the work junk cleaned up!)

marshmallows, happy girls, sunset, sitting out late chattin with the hubs.... summer delight.
can see many more of these kind of nights to come.

all-star game

every year we get together with pete's fam for the all-star game. the original tradition was that everyone bring various snacks and we enjoy a new one each inning. though over the years, the length and lateness of the game and the exorbitant amount of food has now inhibited us from sticking to that exact tradition...we still had fun getting together and eating tons of yummy food. other than it being a blow out, im not real sure what happened in the game....which seems to be the case every year, as im only partially interested :) we missed the Burns but it was a good little spur-of-the-moment get together with the fam:

(looking back at my last few posts...i know you're probably thinking.. is there anything else you guys do but have parties!?)    the answer is.... sometimes. ;)

unfortunately the kiddos were just too fast and too uninterested for me to get a good cousin pic tonight :/