The Garden Issue

I believe I neglected to post anything this summer about our garden. Being that this blog is a family journal, of sorts, it seems like something worth mentioning - if for no other reason than to remember what worked this year and what didn't. So, while hurricane Irene is brewing and blowing outside, it is with gratefulness that I post about a bountiful summer.

The peonies never disappoint!

We planted both a raspberry and blueberry bush. Michael did a lot to prepare the soil for the blueberry bush - our neighbor Todd (whom you'll meet in a minute) helped us figure out what to do. Michael gathered up pine needles from the park to help acidify the soil.

While we tried to start several plants from seed - most of them didn't really work out. The only ones that worked were parsley and a few string bean plants. Todd gave us his leftover tomato, pepper, dill, lettuce, eggplant, onions, beet, and spinach plants which all produced beautifully. I believe we bought cilantro, sage, and the basil plants from the farmer's market.

Dill - and lots of it!

Our first blueberries! (end of June)

We got several green/red bell peppers!

And beans! but I generally had to add them to a bunch from the store to have enough for a meal.

This is "Farmer" Todd, harvesting turnips from one of the community gardens that he helps run. We had the awesome opportunity to see him at work a couple times this summer! He let us help out in the garden for a couple hours and then we got to enjoy what was harvested that week on "market day." We feel that we owe a great deal of thanks to Todd for not only helping us, beginning gardeners to have a fruitful garden, but because he does a great deal of service for our community - when healthy foods are so expensive.

"Market Day" bounty. Noah and Michael harvested those cucumbers or "cububbers" as Ethan says.

Harvesting onions. We also harvested enough beets for one yummy beet soup. We had enough basil to make pesto sauce to last us through the winter, hopefully.

We had three varieties of tomatoes growing. This year I have skinned them and added them to a couple batches of sauce for the freezer. I'm too intimidated to try canning them. The cherry tomatoes came from a plant that popped up on it's own right next to our compost bin - dozens and dozens have come from it. The other day Michael noticed a pumpkin growing behind the compost bin under some brush! Gotta love those surprise plants!

Here is the latest addition to our garden. Michael's mom came to visit this week to be part of Noah's first day of Kindergarten. She brought me a beautiful blue daze and with it came this little guy! Thanks again for coming, Mom!

Orlando Vacation Part III: Disney World - The Magic Kingdom!

After a long and wonderful day at Sea World, we all crashed and prepared for an early wake-up call to catch our shuttle to the Magic Kingdom! The boys were filled with anticipation, as one might guess...
We arrived around 9am and took the monorail over to the main gates. Our first ride was Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. That was the one Noah wanted to do the most! It did not disappoint. We were able to do it twice in a row with hardly any wait. Ethan loved it too.

Then we did Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride and visited the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. It's amazing how some things never change.

We did get to see Captain Jack Sparrow give us some lessons on how to be a pirate! That inspired us to go on the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride, which we did once more at the end of the day. That time we got stuck in the "Yo ho, Yo ho, a pirate's life for me" room for maybe 15 minutes with the boats all backed-up. It gave us plenty of time to notice all the details and secured the song to our minds the remainder of the day. (c:

We boarded Senegal Sal for The Jungle Cruise!

We took a break for a picnic lunch in Liberty Square on a bench under an awning and let the first batch of rain come through. Noah and Michael enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic while Ethan and I found Peter Pan hiding in a nook behind the Castle! We felt bad that Noah wasn't with us when we met him, but he got a chance later on.

Noah and Michael did Splash Mountain, which was a joyride compared to Atlantis (at Sea World)...probably should have done this one first. Our fast passes let me return with Noah and do it again later that afternoon.

Of course, we got to see Mickey and all his buddies!

I think Woody was Ethan's favorite.

But Noah's clear favorite was Peter Pan. What a thrill!

Ethan got some much-needed naptime during the would-be afternoon parade that was canceled for a thunderstorm.

And here's the Kodak moment:

We had to do all the classics... Michael and Noah did Dumbo during Ethan's nap.

We did the Mad Hatter Tea Party, which Ethan wasn't so sure of at first, but once he saw Noah laughing, he began laughing too.

We thoroughly enjoyed the dazzling Evening Electrical Parade and found a great spot on the Tomorrowland Bridge to watch the 10pm fireworks - yep, 10pm....

...they were tuckered little pumpkins as we waded through the crowds of people, taking the ferry boat, and praying we would make it back to our 11pm shuttle bus.
Fortunately, the bus waited for us!

What a day. We got back to our condo around mid-night, completely exhausted. In the morning, we mustered the strength to pack-up and enjoy a half day at Sea World (for free) on our way to the airport. Ethan just had to see the Pink-Lady and dolphin show once more!! We arrived back to DC where Mom and Dad picked us up around 10pm, and the boys were just spinning in circles, so excited to re-live all their adventures to Grandma and Grandpa.

We are so grateful to both sets of grandparents for making this trip even possible!!!! Thank you so much for what you did to allow us to have a most memorable family vacation - I believe our first ever, just the four of us. It was so special to be able to take the boys right now, at their ages - all the awe and wonder was so worth all the exhaustion.