Our Big Backyard

Batman and Mommy just finished their first chapter book read-aloud. "Henry and Ribsy" by Beverly Cleary was a good choice since it was about a boy and his dog and their adventures with their friends, family, and neighbors. Will loved using the bookmark to remember our page and he enjoyed knowing what chapter we were on. He never forgot the storyline even though it took about 2 weeks to finish.



Now, on to your regularly scheduled blog post: the big backyard. Our yard is a little more than 3 acres. As spring is blooming, there is so much to explore and we spend a lot of time walking around the yard discovering things. This serves many purposes, one of which is to tire out the children and puppy before nap and bed time.

There are caterpillars, flowers, sticks, ladybugs, and many other things to catch and collect.

We check on the bird feeder that Daddy and Will built to see if it needs more seeds.

And we check on the five eggs baby birds (!) in the nest inside our hanging plant. Four of the five eggs hatched today and we were surprised to see fuzzy creatures begging for a fresh worm when we check on them this evening.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn the Yard

We've been discussing planting a tree in the front yard for a while, debating what kind to get and where to plant it. Originally, Mommy thought we'd get a cherry tree or a weeping cherry tree, but they only bloom for a very short period of time.

So, the boys dug a hole in the front yard and then headed off to the nursery to pick out a tree for Mommy as a Mother's Day present.

We decided on a stellar dogwood, planted slightly off-centered in the front yard.

This is what it will look like (hopefully) with some TLC and a lot of water and sun.

Pit Stop

Now that we're back on the East Coast, we're closer to more of our family than we ever were in California. We happen to be halfway between New England and Florida, so it makes for a nice pit stop for Josh's Uncle George and Pat as they travel north.

They arrived this afternoon after 14 hours on the road, and they were ready to play with the kids and puppy.

Will, of course, was dressed to fight the bad guys: this time in his ski goggles and cape.

It was so nice to have visitors and be in a good pit stop location for family!

Easter Day

When Will wakes up, he gets himself dressed before coming to get Mommy. This works out pretty well since Will is still training to be a farmer and gets up before the chickens. Today, he came in giggling that he looked like Daddy going to work. Hehe. He was also very excited, whisper-yelling that there were eggs everywhere again.

Once Kylie woke up (for the fourth time that night), we headed downstairs to collect the eggs around the first floor. Somehow, Kylie turned into a little girl over night. Yesterday, she was no where near as steady on her feet as she was today. Today, she's practically running, squatting down to pick things up, standing on her own in the middle of the floor with no assistance, running and walking across the yard without stumbling on hills or small steps.

Kylie was excited to find her first hair brush in her basket. She kept brushing her hair and smiling at us. So cute!

Since the high today was well into the 90s, we filled up the kiddie pool to let it warm in the sun. After a morning walk and bike ride, the kids and dog were right in the pool. Mom had some squirt guns hidden away for such a hot day, so the kids and Daddy got some use of out those.

Don't feel bad for her, she got her revenge and she sure does love to squirt people.

Someone else is growing quickly, too. Tank is turning into a dog right before our eyes. She's still a good dog, but she needs frequent reminding to stay out of mischief.

In the evening, Mom finally managed to get some cute pictures of a cooperative Will. Tank was performing some fetch tricks which caused these smiles. Thanks, Tank.