Grandmother turns 97
Eliot picked up a piece of paper and divided it into three horizontal sections. I wasn't sure what he was doing at first, then he told me the top was blue, the middle green, and the bottom brown. We were going to make a
rain forest cake for my grandmother's birthday. Though we weren't going to Amarillo this trip, Aunt Julie could deliver our cake to grandmother in time for her 97th birthday.
Eliot wanted a macaw, vipers, and tree frogs, of course. So that's what I made. Plus lots of trees with vines. I was happy to have my professional food coloring - much more vibrant colors this time around!
Barbeque
We had a backyard barbeque, since we couldn't pull off camping this weekend. The Reeds, Holcombs, Boyles, Margaret and Julie joined in the fun. The
kids table was full - Ruthie, Eliot, Maggie, Miles, Chase.
Tierney and Ashlyn preferred the "big guys" table with mom Lisa. Matt was off doing a bike race in Leadville.
Garden Plots
Plots 1 and 2 were my first to be planted.
4/23/07 (after first planting)
5/31/07
6/25/07
7/16/07
Herb Garden - 7/16/07 
Garden Plot 3 on 7/9/07; peas almost done
Plots 3-7 on 6/7; 6/25; 7/9
This year I am growing squash, strawberries, peppers, carrots, chard, basil, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, peas, beets, onions, garlic, shallots, tomatoes, cucumbers, nasturtiums, and marigolds. Eliot planted a blueberry bush and purple carrots in his 2x2 ft plot.
Harvest on 7/15/07
Plots 3-6 on 7/16/07
Out in Nature
Carson and the boys went hiking up McClintock Trail. You gotta love the flatirons! They enjoyed looking at rocks,
pine needles, and the big swarm of dragonflies.
Megan and Miles liked the hollyhocks as we came down into the Chautaquah cottages. Later in the week, Eliot and I found a
plains garter snake under our cardboard box. It had been sunning itself in the driveway.
Cool Haircuts
Today, the boys and I went to have our haircuts with Gaylin at the salon. Both boys were quite disappointed when Gaylin said she didn't have colored gel. She more than made up for it with her spikey Billy Idol hairdoos! Aunt Julie loved their surprise at dinner that night. Eliot even fell asleep in the car with his head forward so he wouldn't mess up his hair.
It's nice to have a backyard
Miles has to be potty trained for his preschool in the fall. The good news is that he's interested and working on it. He has his moments but we did give away our diapers 3 weeks after this picture was taken. He's been going great and likes being a "bigga boy".
Water Battle
Miles thought that it would be fun to splash everyone with the hose as they were filling up the pool to play. Then everyone got cups and a full-on water battle began. Everyone was trying to splash Grandpa and then Uncle David. David had the upper hand and got all the kids soaking wet!
Jim's cousins and their 3 kids were visiting too along with Aunt Becky and Uncle Bill. Everyone had a great time.
Uncle David was king of dunking and water play
Saturday Farmer's Market
For most of our trips to Madison the last several years we've missed the farmer's market. This year, we were actually around on a Saturday morning, so Dave, Wendy, Mary, the kids and I headed to the farmer's market around the
capitol. The
produce and potted plants were wonderful, as was the selection of baked goods.
Of course, there were lots of
cheese stands with wonderful cheese from small cheesemakers. David and I loved the very pricey 12-year cheddar. It was fun to just taste all the different ones. Who would have known cheese curds were so yummy and in so many flavors!
Afterwards, Dave Wendy and I made a quick trip to
Monona Terrace to look at the views on top of the convention center.
Water Sports on Lake Monona
A trip to Wisconsin would not be complete without a little motor sports on the water. Jim's parents live on Lake Monona, so we got lots of opportunities to take the red-and-white motor boat out on the lake.
Miles favorite part was definitely "driving" - crazy. At one point he even moved Grandpa's hand from the throttle and tried to gun it. He's going to be an X-games athlete for sure. Miles even took a turn
on the tube with Daddy.
I was the official spotter - my favorite job. It was too cold for waterskiing for me.
Eliot saying GO SLOWER on his second tube rideEliot's favorite spot - the bumpy part - in the boat
Jim shows his stuff skiing and scurfing on the lake
The
second cousins have a grand time playing together
Someone (probably Eliot) came up with a great idea to make chalk soup. Yummy!
Lots of Projects
A trip to Hobby Lobby resulted in our Lightning McQueen cake pan and a different craft project for nearly each day in Madison.
Who would have known Grandma was such an artist?
Miles and Eliot went for Cars cars with their face painting, while
Katherine chose flowers. One day we all made foam and sticker pictures. Jim works intently on
his Jaguar J. Another day was for beading. The final project was
finger painting - fun stuff!
Madison Zoo
Today Grandma and Grandpa took us all to the zoo (sans Jim who was working). The kids enjoyed eating snacks and lunch at this great free zoo.
Eliot rode on a seal. Miles preferred the stationary giraffe. They are building a new children's area, but the really neat playground wasn't ready yet. It reminded me a lot of the cool playgrounds at the Dutch zoos we visited.
I love walking around zoos.
The rain downpour started just about when we were ready to eat lunch. Elizabeth thought that it was great fun to
hang her head in the rain drip. We enjoyed all the animals, but especially the bears (spectacled,
grizzly, and polar). My favorite were the
beautiful flamingos who were trying to dry off after the rain.
Eliot picked up a piece of paper and divided it into three horizontal sections. I wasn't sure what he was doing at first, then he told me the top was blue, the middle green, and the bottom brown. We were going to make a rain forest cake for my grandmother's birthday. Though we weren't going to Amarillo this trip, Aunt Julie could deliver our cake to grandmother in time for her 97th birthday.
