Have I Been A Father That Long?

For Father's Day we worked in the yard, planting tomatoes and Japanese maples, mowing the lawn and adding a few pollinators around the yard. It was a quick but effective morning. And Laura got me a croquet set as a gift. Can't wait for some sticky wicket.

There was no need to hold on to this tree. She just wanted to stake a claim. 

Went down to Trenton for the dinner of dads. Yuula and Dylan engaged in dinner conversation, probably about American intervention in Syria, or something. It was darling.

And the two had a good old jump in the bounce house. 

Then this happened. She's already 16.

Rooftop Gloom Burgers

 The plan was to cookout on the roof tonight and no amount of fog would slow down the insatiable urge Victor has for fine beef patties and brats. It was a nice ambience, and strange to know we're surrounded by the hustle/bustle, but unable to see any of it. I could barely see my burger. I almost chewed off Yuula's foot.

The cook, the "friend"

Rain Just Missed Us

The Trunks came over for dinner last night and Isabella brought Yuula a gift.

She handed it to her so sweetly and as a return gesture Yuula threw it on the floor. What a sweetheart!

Laura somehow managed to whip up a monster meal last night including burgers, homemade fries, deviled eggs, beer battered brats, pasta salad, and cheery pie. I was full before I finished one course. And the rain just missed us. Come on up. We will do one for you.

The girls had a great time with beads and trampolines and slides and flashing each other. Apparently they're both embracing the shirtless look for this summer. It's too soon to be concerned.

Rainy day out today but we have plans to keep us busy.

Well Played Mayans

This is a combination of mandarin orange and animal cracker chewed together and spat out, courtesy of our girl Yuula

Our router committed suicide last night. Really couldn't have been worse timing. But I did get a free day in the yard to start the white rock removal process. Got about 13/15 thru the one side. Didn't touch the others. Dirty work that makes the shower gritty. 

I talked with Curtis today, back and forth between his customer base. We made some ambitious plans for end of July. Let's see what happens. 

We've been drinking white because our reserves are low.

This happened...

...and this will never get old...

And Dick Clark dies the same year the world is predicted to end. Well played Mayans.

Spring Rejuvenates, A Countdown Ruminates

OH! It felt so good to get outside in the warmth yesterday and get our hands in the dirt. Granted all we did was clean up some of the mess made by winter and plant a few flowers, but it really got our spring to sprung and now I can't wait for this weekend when we're gonna spend two whole days working in the yard. Who'd'a thunk it?

Yuula learns to water plants instead of her pants

just let us

Yuula, can you say clematis?

Laura never could resist a good tulip

her aim's a little off but the intent is there

I love a girl who's not afraid to get her feet dirty

the grill open for business and may have customers every evening

that bandaid is legit

done

The only unknown now is how long will it take for me to give into the heat and shear my woolen coat.

The countdown begins...

Coloring Bridge To Cold Cookout

For their final day here in the Poke-A-Nose we thought we'd take a relaxing drive down to Easton and let the girls loose in the Crayola Factory. The place was bigger than I thought'd be and spanned the history of the crayon from its first wax pencil to the its latest shade of inchworm. Some of the activities were overwhelmed by aspiring artists and oddly enough, 17 year olds on spring break, but we still managed to find plenty for the girls to do.

this was a car that you can color on

I wonder how many kids transfer this idea to their family vehicle

she didn't quite get the color explosion

I feel like she really shined at the sculpture station

this piece is entitled "Dead Hippo Floating in Lake Wallenpaupack"

the chalk walk was intimidating to all of us

forever immortalized in a Spiderman coloring book

silly mirrors are self explanatory

the colordance wall was quite fun

so much fun that even I got in on the action

After that we hit a nearby park between to bridges along the river that had plenty of slides for these three. I think Yuula may already be due for an upgrade.

Yuula was in charge of ot letting the ball fall in the river

I was in charge of not letting Yuula fall in the river

she's a slide fiend

Then to home where despite the plummeting temperature and occasional gusts of wind we went ahead with the preplanned cookout of pork steaks. No one seemed to mind too terribly, except for Madison who wore gloves (but no jacket) thru dinner. We even had a visitor who proved to be a big fan of sweet potato fries.

Laura and her stack o' meat

simple & delicious

sweet potato fries make one bold

And then as the sun went down completely we made a fire and everyone got in their fair share of s'mores as we thought back over the past few days and found out that everyone's favorite moment was simply "Kitties!".

dry wood makes for easy bonfire

a roasting tutorial

charred to perfection

first s'more

second s'more

Good times!

Snowballing The Bazaars

We went out early this morning with the intent to drop off the recycling and maybe stop by a yardsale or two and try and see what we could see. But what took place is that off garage sale legend, and by the time we had returned to the house just before noon we felt like we had just driven thru the town robbing our neighbors.

The list of things we bought varies, some things being impulse buys, some being longtime wants or needs, but we came away from six of seven yardsales satisfied customers.

Small stuff like an angel food cake pan ($3), a ceramic planter($.50), a fox/rabbit mug ($.75), a real boomerang ($1), a handmade baby girl sweater ($1), some hooks (to hang the hammock in the shed) ($3), two candle lanterns ($6), dandelion jelly ($6), and an antique gardening kit ($3).



Also scored this sweet picnic basket ($2). I smell an outing.



Laura also picked up these two handbags($7) from an all too eager saleslady.



The big buys were the real steals. Two highback wicker chairs ($10), a wicker serving tray for the patio ($1) & a bike ($15)!



At first Laura didn't like it, til the lady took $10 off the price. Then she loved it.



All this for only $60. Not bad huh? Yuula learned a valuable lesson today. How to sleep thru yardsale day.



We celebrated with a cookout...



...til it rained.