Bye bye Bluie

The other day Griffin's beloved fish, Bluie passed from this life to the next. I was surprised to see that Griffin cried over the fish. We buried Bluie under our Ryan tree in the backyard.

RIP Bluie.

Independence Day

We had rainy, cold weather for Independence Day but it didn't stop the Coleman's from having a great party! This was Griffin's first big experience with backyard fireworks and oh my goodness, he LOVED them. Him and Madison were front and center for the show. Oh and sparklers and poppers! They were a huge hit! And it sure is nice that the Coleman's live just a block or two away from prime Ribfest Firework-watching! After the firework show, we went back to the Coleman's and had s'mores. We had a great time!

John and Robbie

Laura and Christian. Cabeb was sick so he was in bed at 7:20. Christian was able to hang with us until 11pm!!The Clark Family
Lady Liberty - oops, I mean Madison
Archie's bag board. I hope it didn't sustain too much damage w/ the festivities.
Griffin and Madison
Sisters - Laura and Amy
Christian - he loved the fireworks after the initial noise-shock wore off!
Amy and Dallas
Griffin and Madison in the front row. Griffin was dancing to the fireworks as they were going off.

Thank God for our country.

Baseball

Griffin has been playing coach pitch baseball this summer. It has been a great experience for him and all the boys. There are 5 coaches and they do an amazing job with the kids. They have MUCH more patience that I ever could. Griffin's attention span is about one hour and the games usually last an hour and a half! He's been know to sit down in the outfield and/or pick the grass.

Ouch

Tonight we decided to take a family bike ride. Griffin is riding a new bike that is much bigger than the one he learned on. He hopped right on and off he went. We had a great ride until we got to our friend's driveway. Between the turn, slowing down and the incline of the driveway, Griffin skidded out and landed on his chin and knee. He was very brave and only cried for a few seconds but I know it hurt. His chin is one big bruise with small scrapes. He was very nervous to get back on but we really encouraged him to do so and he did awesome. He even rode it up OUR driveway when we got home! I was proud of him! We've cleaned him up and now he's sitting with Dallas watching Star Wars.

Garden pics

We planted two river birch trees around the garden that WAS under the big tree. We love river birches and they do get pretty big and add a nice texture to the yard. GROW TREES GO!

The veggie garden contains - green onions, several varieties of lettuce, sage, basil, parsley, cilantro, jalapenos, egg plant, zucchini, cucumber, 4 types of tomatoes. Today I made a pasta salad using the zucchini, onions and basil. I'll use the lettuce to put on our burgers tonight.
This picture is from the other day but I wanted you to see how colorful the garden looks - you'll notice the purples, red and yellows from this angle.


This last picture is of our compost bin. It has cantaloupes growing out of it. I guess it's an added bonus to the stuff growing in our "real" vegetable garden.

It amazing what a difference a couple of years make for perennials.

Cathi

Backyard

I have always liked gardening but this year I have been studying up on it. I am learning what plants like what soil, sun/shade, height/spacing of plants, etc. It's been fun and I wish I had an acre or two to make some gardens on. But I don't so I'll just stick to my backyard. It was an open pallet when we arrived except for the BIG TREE in the backyard. Remember? So the first summer we put in a perennial garden around the tree.

Then we added our vegetable garden.
Then we added our Ryan tree.Then this summer I added a garden around the Ryan tree.
And then this WEEK I added another small perennial garden.

Stay tuned for some new pictures of all the gardens.

Hanging out

Griffin and I have been hanging out this week. Dallas is 1/2 way around the world in Brazil. It is our first week home (with nothing planned) since school got out at the beginning of the month. It's been nice not setting an alarm or having someplace to rush off to. We've been to the gym twice, grocery shopping, to a friend's house for a playdate, 2 playdates here, dinner out tonight. A fun week! Oh, except for the heat. It's been over 95 degrees all week! Very hot for Illinois.

On Tuesday, G's best little buddy Kade came over and they played all afternoon. They had a blast (as you can see!)