In the Yard Again

 Things have been very exciting here. Storms every night for the past four nights.... plenty of hail and downpours.  Everything is doing really well. 

 I swapped our shady and sunny hanging baskets.... since I have the sunny flowers have been doing MUCH better, and the shady flowers which were alright before are looked even better.  I'm happy.  Remind me of this next year okay?

 The garden has survived the hail. 

 We have little zucchinis growing now.  

 Seems we will have lots more!

 Our bean plants....

 Oh the beans......  Basically this garden is just for snacking and learning.  Next year we will have another bed and plant enough to be serious. 

 Oh the peppers....

 Oh the tomatoes.....

 I cannot wait.

Its garden magic.

Next

 To cap off the end of the week of golf lessons the boys got to play 9 holes of golf for free.  Dave had the morning off, so we went early before the temps were roasting.  

 I went along to work on my tan and take photos.  I have to say after three holes I was bored to tears and would have suggested we leave early, but I thought if the five year old has this long of an attention span then by all means. 

 They both had fun.  Dave hasn't golfed since the spring of 2011.  It was pretty tricky for him with his finger still being injured and all.  

 Nate never got frustrated.  Just kept swinging.  Didn't throw any fits because he missed the ball.....several times in a row sometimes. He just enjoyed it, and loved being out there with his dad.  

I think they will have lots of fun in the years to come.   I'll pass from now on though.

Next up- Two weeks of tennis lessons.  

Then we will take a break from sports to get settled into our school routine.... Then back to ice skating lessons.

Speaking of school.  We are good to go.  The curriculum is here, and I have turned in the paperwork to make us legal.  It was a pretty painless event.  

Also, we have lots of hopes for our year of homeschooling.  I'm going to mention something and hope I don't piss you off..... but we have been planning stuff to make the year fun, and because we aren't loaded I keep a wish list on amazon for my own use so I don't have to search over and over for the things we want to get.  If you are a family person that always wonders what to get Nate for Christmas or his birthday we would be more than happy to guide you to the list.  Not that we want you to buy him things, but because a lot of our family don't get to visit and have no clue the toys and books Nate already has... or what clothes he might need etc.  I feel the same way about my nieces and nephews.   We are hoping to collect a nice DK Eyewitness Book collection.  They aren't super pricey and would make great gifts.   So if you are ever at a loss let us know.  

The Real Thing

 If you've know Nate since he was one, you know he can swing a golf club and send a ball flying.   He hasn't been playing very much lately, because he tends to break those plastic clubs within a couple of days.  However.... Nathan is now the proud owner of his own set of REAL golf clubs.  Like serious clubs meant for little people.  He is taking lessons this week at the golf course onbase.  The five lessons included a golf polo, hat, and the clubs!  Plus Dave and Nate get to play 9 holes for free this week.  I'm sure I'll take some photos.  

How did he get so big??  Dave is beyond proud!

In The Heat

 We've had awesome weather this year.  Late spring stayed much cooler than last year, and this summer, so far, hasn't made it to the triple digits.  And the rain.  Oh the rain is so welcomed after last year.  

 This week however the temperature has started creeping up to hotness.  

 Yesterday we beat the heat at the fountains downtown Rapid City.  Nate had a riot.

Tomorrow will be roasting so we're heading to the pool.    

Enjoying summer! Hope you are too!

Real Food

 Things out back are insane.  SO EXCITING for our first real attempt.  

 We have little peppers!  This plant is one of the pepper plants I started inside.  Two of the others had to be replaced with greenhouse plants but this guy is doing the best.... and I grew it! FROM SEED.  

 The other pepper plants are on their way.

 We've been snacking on home grown peas.  Delish.  

 The zucchini plants are looking happy.

 We now have little tiny green beans!  This is a new development and I am so excited!

 the cucumbers have flowers.

 And the tomatoes make me want to sing! 

 Our strawberries are growing alot all of a sudden.  Maybe it just took them a bit to get adjusted?  I haven't got a clue, but I'm happy that they're happy.

Picked some peas for dinner tonight!

Box Day

This morning was very exciting for us.  I ordered our home school curriculum very recently and since it only had to come from Colorado it arrived today!  

 It arrived really early... like before we woke up at 8. Nathan was beyond excited.  I was too.  Its not everyday fifty pounds of books arrived on your doorstep! 

 This was the light box.  

 Look at our little kindergartner!  

 Most of the photos I took were blurry.... that is how excited was,  quickly ripping through the boxes. 

 There were lots of ohhhhs and ahhhhhs.  

After the blurry photos were snapped I sat down with the five inch thick instructors guide/lessons plans and my coffee.  In theory the plans are amazing and fun.... and having it all planned out makes me feel more relaxed.  After all of this when I was pouring his Kix Nathan sighed and said,"Gosh, I can't believe I get to home school".  So now we are your weird home schooling friend/family.  

Celebration in the Backyard

This Fourth we had a few friends over.  

 We had water-balloons, the sprinkler was going, and we had a nice BBQ.  

 I literally spend an hour of my life filling up the bucket of balloons only to have them last 2 minutes.  I've thought of ways to make them stretch longer next time.  

 We had chalk for the kids...

badminton was out....

We had a fire and s'mores....

Sparklers....

 goofy kids...

 an old pup getting lots of love....

 ...more sparklers...

 I even caught my friend's serious little guy clapping and smirking!  

 I didn't take pics but we also had some fountains.... they were magical for the kids.... also all over my neighborhood were serious fireworks so we had a free show.  

It was an awesome way to celebrate the Fourth..... We made use of our yard and I got to show several people my garden... because I always feel I need to show someone.

Its been years since we spent the Fourth together.  Last year Dave was gone, the year before he worked all day.... The year before we were in NM and I can't recall anything about it.  This year was great though so I'll be sure to remember this one.