What kind of sound does a penguin make, Shelly?

Finally, coffee and crumb cake with Shelly and John. Okay, it wasn't really crumb cake -- yummy scones instead. But our oft-talked-about weekend morning hang-out finally happened. And with a trip to the zoo thrown in to boot!

Shelly, as many of you know, is a zookeeper's daughter. She knows a LOT about the animals and their sounds.

The new penguin exhibit ROCKED! Thanks, John and Shelly!

Mom and Tristen

This summer I'm taking a few random days off to be the fun parent, for a change. During our first Mom and Tristen day, we took the bus downtown to Pike Street Market. We walked through the market, bought hombow and snap peas, ate our lunch at the park watching pigeons, and then caught the 66 back home.

Tristed loved his first bus ride. And now, every time he sees a bus, he wonders, "Is that OUR bus? The 66?"

Tristen sings "Puff"

Captured this before bed time when we were on vacation. He'd been working on learning the words in the car. He knows almost all of them, though he choked a little here. :)

Pea fence and planting

Chris loves to take credit for this "simple but elegant design" (as one neighbor put it), but we all know who the creative thinker behind the pea trellis is, don't we?

Hahaha. We talked about the trellis nonstop over a week. It took Krumm 20 minutes to construct it. Finally. :)

Tristen and I planted the garden: lettuce, arugula (our favorite!), tomatoes (thanks, Auntie Becca!), peppers, basil, cilantro, parsley, bok choy, celery, kale, chard, carrots, green onions, chives, cukes, delicata squash, and broccoli. We're already enjoying the fruits of our labor: arugula and lettuce coming out of our ears.

Bucket brigade

It has been about a month since Chris positioned and leveled the raised beds after he and Tristen put them together. Abigail dropped by to help us fill them.

Why the front yard?

1. Full sun.
2. Saves backyard for running around with balls and bubbles and three-year-olds.
3. What else were we going to do with all that grass -- besides cut it?

Updates coming soon!

The garden is in! We're back from Montana! Plus, we enjoyed another fabulous weekend at Auntie Becca's farm. Lots to report on as soon as we can catch a break from all this fun. Harp it easy, and check back soon.