GAME TIME

M and hubby playing a game.
It involved
deep concentration
on which piece to pull out.

Whoa,... steady!

Nooooooo!
Guess who lost.
Poor M.

ENGLISH SUNDAY DINNER

WARNING.
FOOD PORN IMAGES BELOW.
VIEWING THIS WILL MAKE YOU
HUNGRY
(ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE ENGLISH)

I decided to make a traditional
English Sunday dinner.
It was the first time
I made Yorkshire puddings.
I was a little nervous that they wouldn't fluff up.
I was delighted when I opened the oven.
Who knew I could make them.
The roast potatoes came out perfect.

I made a berry crumble for dessert.
(sorry, I couldn't find any rhubarb)
I had planned to make custard to go with it
but I was so hot from cooking
that decided on ice-cream...
still tasted good
but not as good had it been
custard!

It was all so good
(i hope you don't think I am bragging
but I am not really a good cook
so I was proud of myself)
I think I gain 12lb just eating it all...
totally worth it though.

LOOKING AFTER MRS. TURTLE

We are looking after our friends turtle again...
how lucky are we??

She loves to walk around the garden.

I'm not sure who decided
turtles are slow
becasue they are not!
If you turn your head,
she is gone.
We all panic trying to find where
she is hiding.

Henry sunbathing and
Mrs. Turtle going on her walk.

Henry loves to sunbathe.
I always worry that his underside is going to get sun burnt.
Who knew
dogs like to sunbathe?

STICK BUG

I did some gardening in my back yard this previous weekend.
I felt something on my arm
and screamed when I found
this stick bug.

I decided he was actually quite cute
(as long as he wasn't on my arm)
It is so weird how much they acutally look like a stick.
Makes me wonder how many are in my garden
that I just can't see

Thomas was hanging out with me while I was gardening.

HIKE

Went on a hike this morning.
Nobody was around.

Giant red ants (well, giant is subjective when you are referring to ants...
don't you think?)

Large and deep snake hole - this freaked me out

Pretty thistles - made me think of Scotland
so I found some
Scottish music on my ipod
and jammed up the hills
while looking at thistles
and hearing bagpipes...
gotta love it!

Lots of thistles

Yes,
I did climb up this.
Boy, was I out of breath...
gota..
get..
in..
better..
shape!

A cute bench at the top of the hill
No, I didn't take a break and sit on it
but I did think it was
very thoughtful
of someone to put it there.

I wonder if they

are still
in love??
I do hope so!

Pretty!

I was suprised
when I found this old water trough for cows.
This used to be a large ranch area.
We still have the trails
but also
lots and lots of houses.

Check out this mile marker I saw.
Made me wonder....
62.2 miles to WHERE??

Found another one.
Almost missed it since it was partially hidden by the
yellow flowers.

I began to suspect that I was actually on private property...
I think I missed the sign...
Couldn't help it.
Was distracted by shinny yellow signs. Ha, ha!
I saw another one further along the trail but freaked myself out
thinking I was no longer on the public trail.

I walked for an hour and a half.
The weather was perfect.

JUST HANGING OUT WITH FRIENDS

Had a fun morning with M and 3 of her friends.
We went to a 10am summer movie.
It was $1 - gotta love that!
Here they are standing in a circle
discussing their stuffed animals that each one brought.
I love the matching t-shirts the sisters are wearing.

One of the moms made a snack pack for each of them.
She put it in a cute white bag with their name on it.
They each had
popcorn,
3 marshmallows and
a juice box....
much better than any movie theater kids pack.




After the movie we went to a free craft event at our local art supply store.
The girls decorated bird houses and eggs.
They made a huge mess....
just glad it wasn't at my house...
well, I wouldn't have minded too much
since they had so much fun.

M painting her bird house.
I think she had more paint on the table than on her house.



Intense concentration!



Finished.

We have a bird nesting on our patio.
M said,
"lets put seeds in the bird house
and put it next to the bird nest
so the baby birds can have some food."
She is so sweet.

Can you guess where we went for lunch?
Hint -check out the umbrella.

I love days like these since M is so happy
just hanging out with her friends.

CAPSELA 700

M and Hubby were playing with one of Hubby's childhood toys.
His parents recently gave him boxes of stuff from when he was a kid.
This was built from the set called Capsela 700.
M (and hubby) had a blast playing with it.

I love the box it came in.
I love the wording...
"the consturction set of tomorrow"
I love the photo in the corner
of the Dad and the two kids....
so 1970s.
Gota love the vintage toys.





Little Kitten wanted to play too...
can you spot her on the chair...
she is so cute!

Had a great salad for lunch.
What an explosion of
color,
taste,
and texture.
YuMMy!
Ingredients:
Lettuce (well, of course)
strawberries (so sweet),
pineapple (so tart),
blueberries (sweet AND tart)
manderin oranges (a little sour)
walnuts (crunchy)
chicken (gotta have some protein)
and topped with poppyseed vinergrette dressing.

After dinner we rode our bikes to feed the ducks that live on the golf course.
I think they were happy to see us...
they gobbled up all the bread.
M said,"that sure was a good idea of yours mummy."

CATCHING UP

We watched our neighbor's turtle while they were on vacation.
The turtle hangs out in our huge laundry room sink.
Little Kitten is very protective of it
and watches over it.



Pic of M with her plant
that is growing
and growing.
She planted it at school and
waters it
every day.
She is quite proud of it...
so am I.

We went for a late morning hike today.
It was hot but pretty.
We saw
3 dragonflies
2 roadrunners - M wondered why they were so much smaller than the one on the cartoon and
1 large butterfly.

We decided to cool off in the pool afterwards.
We swam for about an hour.
Great day with great family time.

4TH OF JULY

Had a lovely 4th of July celebration.
Not sure why but didn't take any pics.
Went to a great restaurant
overlooking the harbor.
The view was great,
the fireworks were great,
the food was yummy,
and the friends we spent the evening with were the best!

SUCH A NICE CONTRADICTION

M was playing and it just just stuck me as funny
cause there she was in this lovely frilly orange dress
adorned with flowers
and yet she was playing
so happily
with cars.
Such a nice contradiction.
Love it!!

ART PROJECTS

M and I did art projects for about an hour.
Used pastels so super messy
but super fun!

AT THE BEACH WITH BFF

M at the beach with BFF