Siberian Season....

Just had to show off these lovely, though tough, rapidly spreading, iris that have such a short but glorious bloom before they are gone....

They keep me sane while waging war on my annoying slug foes.

And like any true beauty they are ready for a close up :-)

The Weather

Are we (general we) ever satisfied with the weather? I spent winter complaining of the cold, annoyed with the ice covered roads and irritated with shoveling the snow. I dreamt of warm summer days. Apparently I needed to dream of lukewarm with a cool breeze spring days, as apparently we've gone from winter to the dead of summer in one fell swoop. Hot. Humid. Gross.

That said, we did have perfect weather last week for Arden's school field trip to Fenway Park. Grandma J and Pops were in town and joined us. I'm pretty sure Pops liked the trip as much, if not more, than the kid. In fact, she was pretty annoyed that there was no game that day.

Pictures are below....taking with my phone as our camera lens appears to have bitten the dust.

Before heading out...I considered dressing her in her Yankees gear...


She insisted on posing here...

We got to go on the field, this is the view from there

Arden listening to the tour guide while sitting up on the roof. The seat she is sitting in costs $120 and you have to win the lotto to have the 'opportunity' to pay a fortune to sit there.

After Fenway we hit up the mall for some shopping. Arden was clingy and tired, and hitched a ride on Pops. The next day we discovered an ear infection. At least she's consistent.

I found some other pictures on my phone...hula hooping at Canobie Lake.

Getting a backrub in between rides. This is right before she convinced Pops to go on the Haunted House ride at Canobie. She sure is a smooth talker.

On their last day here we took a trip to Northampton/Amherst. They'd never been, and we talk incessantly about that area being the place we dream of living.

Here she is on the UMass campus 'sharing' a cookie with Pops. And by sharing, I mean eating his cookie.

Cheese!

She's just so sassy these days.

Love Your Alternative Pollinators...Not "Slimy" & Simply Satisfying :-)

Slimy toad! Toads are NOT slimy.

I hate to say it but E. doesn’t know a good thing when she sees it. Toads spend plenty of time getting rid of insects that annoy the pants right off me, plus, they’re cute and maintenance free.

But just so you don’t all think that the only thing growing in the flower garden this year is my ADORABLE toad friends, I thought I’d share that –

The Poppies are blooming!

Same for the Trinity

See them both together???? Pretty yes?

I like things wild and carefree... of course I have to give thanks to the many critters working hard to keep my flowers coming....

Plus... I like to torture E. with more of my wild pets...

Bumblebee hard at work, they are freakishly tame and I can get as close as I’d like for photos. (No mom I won't try to pet it)

And honeybees are back! Not so tame and tend to run, considering I need them to do some work I had to step back to get this shot... just focus on the colored part and you’ll see her.

I also had a little green bee who was just too busy to snap a cell picture. Gotta give some love to your alternative pollinators with the honeybee crisis going on.

I’m also annoyed with the slugs this year, who don’t rate a photo since they’re eating my Salvia and they’re about to get some natural predator whoop-ass let loose on them. Or I’m going to get ducks and they really like slugs and I really like ducks. Its a win-win ;-)

And now... since she made fun of my toads... and really likes to avoid photos (for what reason?! This is a very cute picture)... one of my new favorites of E and toad-LOVING Arden.

Grandma and Pops Come to Visit, Take 1

Geez, I don't blog for a week and come in here to find D has taken over the blog to write about a slimy toad. You can imagine her joy that Arden was so happy to see the toad, given my reaction of disgust.

Anyway, today (sadly) ended my parents' annual trip to MA. It was longer than usual this time, at 9 days, but as usual the time just flew. I'll recap with photos over the next couple of days.

They landed on Thursday night, we had dinner at one of Arden's favorite restaurants, Ruby Tuesdays. I worked at home the next day and they came over midday to hang out with the kid while I worked. After I was done we headed to the bookstore where Grandma and Pops proceeded to buy her the whole children's section. She sure was happy to have books that she didn't have to return. Apparently, the library isn't all it's cracked up to be.

She and my mom made cookie batter in prep for the next day, and we just hung around the house.

Saturday morning Arden had gymnastics and her teacher let us come in at the end to watch them practice for their upcoming show, since my folks won't be able to come. All the windows are covered since it's supposed to be a suprise, but hey, now that I know the routine I've downloaded the song so we can practice ;-).

Arden spent much of the afternoon baking with Grandma and playing in the yard with Pops. They played soccer, football and baseball. Oh, and sword fighting, of course.

Sunday we headed up to Canobie Lake. It was a picture perfect day, warm but not too warm and quiet as could be...no lines and no waiting. My kinda day.

Here are the first couple of days in pictures. More to come, I promise.

Playing soccer-baseball with Pops. She makes up all the rules when playing games, consider yourselves warned.

She approves of the cookies.

Discussing, I think, why the Yankees suck.

She borrowed one of Pops' hats...Brooklyn Dodgers.

In the orange 'copter

Looking about 8 or 9 years old here, if you ask me

Sassy McSasserson

Fighter pilot. Or astronaut?

Bored stiff on this ride. None of us were sure why she wanted to do it...no action!

Love her braids in this pic

View from the Sky Ride. Sure is a picturesque place for an amusement park.

Riding with Grandma and Pops. We were chopped liver the moment they arrived.

D was extremely pleased with her choice of transportation

Next ride, the back of the carriage. Odd.

Strolling with Pops

Patienty waiting to play the fishing game

Fishing. She won a Shrek, which she told me to give D for our anniversary

Look Into the Garden and What Do I See?

A happy little garden toad looking back at me :)

I love my perennial flower garden. Is full of wild flowers (and some real wild flower weeds I like) and different types of iris... many are gifts from friends and neighbors so it makes me feel loved just to look at it.

It's pesticide free for a few years now and while I fight the good fight with groundhogs, dandelions, aphids and the dreaded japanese beetle... the lack of chemicals means the urban wildlife is coming back in droves and I love seeing this toad... he can have all the beetles he wants and based on the toad holes I'm hoping he brought the whole family!!

Arden, by the way, completely agrees.

Mother's Day 2010

Apologies for the silence, dead batteries = inability to upload photos. I suppose I could impart my wisdom on some subject or another when we lack pictures...alas.

Mother's Day for us means our annual trip to Canobie Lake Park. We had a delightful trip, but it was cold. Still, we managed to shut the park down. Our friends Beth, Cathy and Hannah joined us for much of the afternoon and we were so glad. Arden loved having a friend to ride the rides and we love Beth and Cathy's company. We can't wait for them to join us for a few days at Disney ;-). C'mon Beth, you know you want to.

Without further ado, photos!

Driving together -- Arden is still too short to drive these cars. Go figure.


Kisses from Mama.

Oh how she loves the Jungle Bounce. Next stop, Tower of Terror!

New ride, the pony carts! She approved. Dora was sad she couldn't go on this one.

The carousel from hell...seriously, it's so fast. Notice the utter joy of Dora and Arden.

Waiting in line for the cars with Hannah.

A car built for two -- two steering wheels!

Helicopters - repainted this year!

Another new ride, bouncing jeeps.

She totally approved.

Pony carts again, now with friend.

The petal flipper thing -- this was a big hit.

Rockets. Or is that a fighter jet?

Future astronaut. Hope she doesn't ask me any math questions as she prepares to go to the moon.