Summer Wrap-up

Can you believe that it is already September and the summer is over?! We, obviously, had a very busy but also a very fun summer. Throughout this post, I've shared some of the best pictures from the summer with you and I'll give you some background to go with them.

We started the summer with Amelia's first official haircut. She has sometimes freaked out just when we've tried to cut her bangs at home so I wasn't sure how she would take to a stranger coming at her with scissors. Luckily, she came through like a champ and sat super still while her hair was trimmed. Summer thunderstorms are common around here. They usually come in the afternoon but one day it started raining in the morning. I let Amelia come out in her pajamas with me to take trash to the trash can. She decided she would like to stay on the front walk and enjoy the rain as it dripped off the front of the house.

We love to spend time outdoors so before Caleb arrived we made it a point to get out to our favorite places. At Navajo Lake, Rod showed Amelia how to skip rocks. Of course, she basically just threw them into the water but it was fun to watch her want to do what Daddy was doing. Then, a week and a half before Caleb was born we decided to do our first family camping trip. We had a huge 8-man tent for the three of us and Sadie. We joined some friends at Haviland Lake above Durango and had a great weekend. Amelia loved sleeping in the tent and learning to fish with Daddy.

Then came Caleb (see the previous post if you missed these details). Amelia is a great bath helper although I've learned that it is best to position her at Caleb's feet instead of his head.

At the fair, Amelia enjoyed bouncing in the bounce house and checking out the specs on the Bobcat tractors. Although she did find the sheep a bit noisy. We also watched a small portion of the 4-H rodeo and she was fascinated by the barrel racing.

What summer would be complete without regular runs in the sprinklers and frequent afternoons in the kiddie pool? Rod's parents brought Amelia a pool/sandbox and she is still asking to go in the pool even though the weather has started to cool down a bit.

In August we were able to go up to Pagosa Springs to a huge cabin for the weekend with my MOPS Steering Team. It is a beautiful setting and was a very fun (not relaxing exactly) for the adults and the kids. Amelia loves being with her friend Kaytriel and on Saturday everyone drove up to a high mountain lake and the kids loved playing in the water.

One benefit of Caleb being due in the middle of the summer was that I had time to get my garden going at the end of May. This was about two months earlier than I was able to start it last year and I have been very excited with the results. I convinced Rod that it needed to be a little bigger this year. You might think that since my garden was so packed last year that I would expand so I would have more room for the plants to grow. Of course not! I took that extra room and planted everything that I had last year plus some. So we have watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, tomatoes (2 kinds), crookneck squash, zucchini, butternut squash, acorn squash and strawberries. Amelia loves to see what is growing and asks each time we have vegetables at dinner if they came from Mommy's "gardy". It has been a great way to introduce her to new vegetables.

It has taken Amelia a bit of time to get used to Caleb and the change in routine that has brought. It has been very sweet to watch her as she tries to help with him or comfort him. She is reading him a story here as he swings.
We hope that you has an enjoyable and full summer as we did. We are excited to see what next summer brings as Caleb will be active and Amelia will be everywhere!

My First Harvest

Only 5 weeks after planting my garden I already have produce! I was able to pick a zucchini this week and was amazing at how big it grew so quickly. I'd heard that zucchinis are quite prolific growers but now I understand what they mean. At least I can freeze it, bake with it or cook it (a lot!).

I finally showed Amelia my garden this week. Obviously she could always see it since it's in the backyard but I had never really pointed it out to her. She got so excited as I showed her the zucchinis and the squashes growing and let her reach down and touch them. Last night when we went outside she started pointing to the garden and wanted to go look at everything again. She even started showing Daddy where the vegetables were on the plants. Next year she and I will have to plant some radishes especially for her to watch grow.

The Yard

Sorry it has been a while since I posted anything. We had one fairly uneventful week and then Amelia and I were gone for a few days. But as always we have been busy outside! The last week of July I finally got my vegetable garden planted in the backyard. I know it is just a bit late to plant vegetables but maybe, just maybe, I'll get something from them before the end of the season. I got a little ambitious and bought way too much for the small space I have. I planted watermelon, crookneck squash, zucchini, two kinds of tomatoes, cucumbers, strawberries, pumpkins and bell peppers. Hopefully later in the season I can show you a picture of how much they've all grown.


Our other yard item last week was our first grass-cutting. This is probably not exciting to most people but not only is this the first lawnmower we've owned but it is also the first time we have lived anywhere with grass to mow. We spent most of last Monday afternoon lawnmower shopping around Farmington. Amelia was not having a lot of fun and a huge thunderstorm moved in just before we were finished. Then when we got home Sadie was a muddy mess because the storm had freaked her out. Luckily, Tuesday was a pretty day and we finally had the smell of fresh-cut grass in our own backyard. Yeah!