Peaches n' Basil

So, we bought 2 peach trees about 5 years ago. They were tiny & sick. 75% off in August.

We planted 2 and one died the next season. The other?

Let's just say, it's a very happy peach tree. I finally convinced Matt to pick the peaches last night, with Devin's help of course.

Its' poor branches were bent over to the ground with peaches!






Now, I have to decide if making something with these is worth it. They're small, but very tasty. When I peel it, there's about 1/8 of a cup of peaches...not much. I would need 30-50 peeled for a cobbler or pie.


Dev loves them. It seems she's acquired our love of sour!


Oh my, the Basil.

I'm pretty sure, it couldn't get any fuller.

I've been making homemade pizza crust for tomato & basil pizzas 2-3x/week.


Dev and I spent a wonderful day together. We hit target 1st thing...and I kept noticing something strange. There were women with carts FULL of toys. Finally, I found the cause of all the commotion.

Target was having a 75% sale on many of their popular toys.

I mean, for $4.24 who could turn this down? It's listed at $24.80 on Amazon. Trust me, it's worth less than the $4.00 I paid. But, wow. It sure did make Devin a happy camper.

She investigated every nook and cranny of this thing. I took away the glitter, but let her have at the nail polish.

Trip to Illinois-July 2009

Based on history, we took our annual July trip to Peoria this weekend.

We arrive!


It's Carson!


Turns out, Devin really likes Uncle Carson. We haven't heard the end of eating strawberries whole and "chomping" on suckers.


That's Mama..."in the refrection."


Grandma was a genius to set up the baby pool for Dev. She used it everyday, we took turns supervising.








On Saturday morning, we took Devin to the Washington Community Center.

Devin was thrilled with the indoor splash park.


I worked out, while Matt swam with Dev.


Carson: "10!"


A GREAT time was had by all. The boys even returned a few hours later for more diving. Devin keeps asking when we'll be going back:)

I'm Growing a Watermelon

We finally got some new sand for her sand box. TR came over just in time to help build a sand castle city.










I found Chloe like this yesterday.

Everyone needs a blankie and an animal to sleep. (Chloe's not usually tolerant of Dev's shenanigans)


There's my baby! It's about the size of a golf ball, so we won't be enjoying fresh watermelon anytime soon...but it's still cool.

Running Shoes

We visited a cool store this morning, which specializes in running shoes. They take a short video of your feet on a treadmill, then choose shoes based on the type of support needed.

I went with an Asics GT 2140. My old New Balance shoes were officially dead.


The store had a sweet dog, which kept Devin entertained for 30 minutes.

She never noticed (or mentioned) that the dog only had 3 legs.

Friday Night

Our area is supposed to see record temperatures this weekend....record cool, that is.

I could never imagine a high 0f 72 on July 18th!!

I took a picture of the garden from the top of the slide...


Scarlet Zinnia


I would guess this is the Kong Hybrid Sunflower...we had fun wandering through the garden this afternoon.



We tried this restaurant tonight....very fun, great for kids and good food.


As we pulled in the parking lot, Matt & I saw the bouncy house at the same time.

We softly said, "shit."

These bouncy things are pretty much her favorite. They make getting anything else done difficult. However, Devin was hungry and went inside without a fight.


They played pinball, while I ate salad.

July Glory

Things are in full bloom for the most part at the garden. It's really amazing to see the transformation of this piece of land.





The Zinnia have been outstanding. We cut and cut & they bloom and bloom. Every vase I own is full & now I'm giving them away!

Splash Park Success

I know 2 people who LOVE the Splash Park inside the Zoo...Dev and Me!

Here's why Devin had fun:

(Sorry for the crappy video, I'm learning how to use my new phone)



I had fun because she could play everything without my help!

The key (for us) was to get to the park early, as in we were the first stroller through the gates. She had about 15-20 minutes to check everything out and get a feel how this splash park thing works.

After that, it got crowded.

-She did have to learn about waiting in a longish line for the slides.

-Apparently it's impossible for her not to run...but there's no running allowed, so I reminded her about that rule 50+ times.

-She still managed to get water up her nose, which was our only crying of the morning.

-She got pushed down (by accident) but recovered on her own.

When it started getting really crowded, she came up and said:

"Let's have our snack and go on the Merry-Go-Round."

Perfect. We made a graceful exit back through the Zoo...it's about a 1/2 mile back to the main gate, but uphill at about 45 degrees. Devin actually asked me if I was ok...huffing and puffing her and the BIG stroller uphill!

Splash Park

We're going to a Splash Park tomorrow, which should be fun. We've been going to the Tom Sawyer State Park pool several times a week lately.

Turns out, going swimming with a non-swimming 3 year old is a lot of work. She wants to jump in over and over again.

The worst part is, we just can't get her to understand blowing air OUT of her nose. No matter how many times (and ways) we try to explain to blow out, she inevitably sucks air and water up her nose. That part really sucks... But, she loves the water and that's a good start.

It's hard to remember her swimming lessons...she wasn't even a year old.

My little chubster.

Happy and Rainy 4th of July

First: I have to say Happy Birthday to my blog! I've kept it up for one year. Here's last year's 4th of July post...it rained last year too:( This was my second post ever....

http://devin4fun.blogspot.com/2008/07/4th-of-july-2008.html

We made our annual trip across the river for fireworks.



These, "...shoot flaming balls."






Since we were already there, we visited the Bass Pro Shop. Dev enjoyed the fish and I tried to explain all the dead, stuffed animals.

As we were leaving, the rain started.


Ga-Ga made a 4th of July cake. We had an amazing dinner of Grandpa's brisket, green beans and slaw from our garden, mashed potatoes and cake!


The rain turned into a light drizzle and eventually stopped, just in time for a few fireworks.






Even with the rain, we had a great time watching Devin have a great time.

Yet Another "Never"

Yep. I said "never" to one of these:


OK. So, technically I said I would never buy one. Which I didn't. But, when someone is just giving one away....(Thanks to Mike & Dawn)

-It's HUGE. Impossible to store.
-It runs on a big battery, so she gets no exercise while riding in it.

BUT,


-She LOVES it! At least, this model has less pink....







Oh, and for some reason I decided to put a sheet down in the kitchen and let her paint her feet for footprint art.

Not one of my better choices.