Summer!

Hey long lost friends.  Sorry I haven't been on.  I've been taking a bit of a break from social media.  So lets play catch up.

-Jared and I purchased the Friends of the Zoo pass this year.  Due to the size of our family it makes sense.  It's the same dollar amount as going one time as a family.  The zoo has the new Sky Safari and it is worth the trip all by itself.  It's a glorified ski lift that takes you high above "Africa" so you can see all the animals from above.  The only down fall is summer shoes aren't a great pairing with the ride.  Yesterday we went for a couple hours and Elijah lost one of his brand new (read pricey) Nike flip flops.  It's an ostrich chew toy.  The  poor kid was devastated.  He loved those shoes and rarely, if ever, has had a new pair of shoes he got to pick out.  His brother was kicking his feet and knocked it right off.    We begged the staff to save it and they said they'd try after hours but they weren't hopeful.

-Our little Gus is a blessing to the family.  He's fluffy, sweet, playful and super smart.  He's been sleeping in his kennel 7+ hours a night without a peep from the first couple days.  That's a remarkable difference from Sophie.  We were up with her multiple times a night for weeks, maybe months (I've buried the memory).  We are house trained.  Meaning, he does great as long as we take him out each hour.  As soon as we're distracted he has a mishap.  I've read dogs can be housebroken between 14-20 weeks.  He's showing incredible progress for his tiny 12 week old self.

-We are finishing up our last couple days of school!  We have cut back the daily work for this last week.  The kids are doing Language, Math, and reading.  Friday is our last day and we are all ready!

-I am almost done with the yard make over.  We had a very large "garden" area in our back yard.  I use the term garden loosely.  There wasn't grass in it and it was rimmed with rocks.  Other than that it was a weed bed filled with poison ivy and daffodil bulbs.  I cut it in half, dug up all the bulbs, tree stumps, vines, and bushes and cut down 3 small volunteer trees.  Once the area was cleared of debris I went to Home Depot and picked up some sod.  Shockingly enough a small amount of sod is actually cheaper than planting seed.  I didn't need a full bag of seed but would have to purchase one regardless.  The sod was only $3/roll and totaled less than the bag of seed.  Now I have a part time job watering but am already thrilled with the results.

-I have been planting edible foliage.  We have 3 blueberry bushes, 2 raspberry bushes, 2 grape vines, 4 tomato plants, and herbs.  This year we'll only harvest the herbs and tomatoes but next year will be filled with fresh berries for jams, pies, and munching!  So excited.