The Eagle is Dead

Drew's ode to the Eagle:

Oh eagle stove – how I miss you.

The times we had together, the burgers we broiled.

Our time together was short, but rich

Fly Eagle, fly away.

You’ve earned your rest.


Mine is a bit different:

Ding dong the Eagle's dead...the Eagle's dead....Ding Dong the wicked Eagle's dead.

This was the Eagle's last meal




This is the Eagle's temperature control knob


How I told the temperature:


The Eagle's last shining moments:


And our new stove - I am so afraid of it...it is so shiny and new. ACK!

It is so beautiful.

Memorial Day

Friends of ours suggested we go Duck Races on Memorial Day. It was certainly well attended and fun. There are five races and they sell tickets for each of the races. They have numbered rubber duckies and they drop them off a bridge into the water.

Then the current carries the ducks to the finish line...accompanied by much encouragement from the crowd.

The ducks cross the finish line - which is big enough for one duck. They record the ducks and then start all over again.

We enjoyed having another beautiful day in the sunshine, having our picnic and playing with our friends! We also had a winning duck!!! We won dinner for two at Medieval Times.


The Real Ducks

Backyard Blooms

Sigh...can't believe we have so much beautiful blooming happening in our backyard. It is so much fun to go out there each evening and see what is new. Here are a couple of our blooms to share:

Birthday Party

While they were working diligently in the backyard, I was supervising the kids a birthday party. (READ: Fantastic opportunity to snap pictures of your kids playing.)


The party was for one of Ben's best friends - and the family has become very good friends to all of us. They recently about an hour away, but we are all working hard to ensure we still get to see each other. Here are some of the photos I snapped of the kids:

Lolly was extremely diligent in seeing to the watering of all of their plants...
and her feet.

The boys were racing the big blue ball down the hill.
the ball won....

Backyard

For Drew's birthday, he asked Joan to share some of her gardening expertise with us. Most of you know that Drew spent the summer of 2002 in the backyard landscaping. He created two beautiful rock walls and changed the slope of the backyard so it is now three separate tiers. In the summer of 2005, he built a pergola that runs up one side of the backyard. It is truly beautiful -- and I am constantly in awe of his vision of the outdoor paradise he is trying to create and his implementation.

I tried to populate the garden with plants...but failed pretty miserably!!! Our soil is like clay and working full time with two little ones did not provide the time and attention plants need. (The good news is the kids are alive and well -- even if the plants perished, so you can say my priorities were in the right place!!!)

Joan bought us some gorgeous plants - vining hydrangea, honeysuckle, trumpet flowers, wisteria and clematis. We also now have beautiful azaleas that line one of the rock walls. Then we have begonias, wild primrose and salvia. A gorgeous lilac plant that I had never seen before that looks like this:






Andy also put in quite a bit of time cleaning up the overgrown yard. And Drew of course, was the muscle that didn't stop...and kept digging holes. It is so exciting to look around the back yard and see all the potential. Here are a few photos recently taken in the backyard -- some that confirm our little helpers are seeing to the watering of the plants!

Oops! Someone is missing the watering can!!!

but very kindly investigates the damage.

Willing to pose for a silly photo

Our first bloom on the pergola

Pausing with her watering pail

Ben, Uncle Doug and Goosey Lucy

Kripalu

What a visit I had to Kripalu. It was a truly luxurious time to explore and I am incredibly grateful to Drew, Joan and Andy for giving me the time to go. I will definitely write more in this entry later--when I have processed what I learned and what I did, but here are some photos from a hike I took for now:

Day at the Park

Sunday morning in the park. It was gorgeous!!! Got some fun pictures of the kids playing.

There are two funny stories that accompany these pictures:

The first is when Ben was getting some water from the fountain (even though I brought water!) and Lolly was patiently waiting for her turn. Ben took on more water than he was able - up his nose, in his eyes and he gasped....Charlotte immediately asked him "BEN! Are you a fish?!?!?" We all burst out laughing. It was hysterical!.



The second was when I asked the kids to smile for a photo -- and NO JOKE, they both immediately turned their heads away - so I got this fantastic picture of the back of their heads -- and their sheer defiance!