The Veggies are coming!!!

My Valencia orange pepper is finally changing colors. I was beginning to think they had labeled it incorrectly. The picture doesn't do it justice...it really looks like it has neon orange paint on it! Or more so when it had more green in it. 

This is one of my 10 tomato plants. Haha, we are going to have so many! I am so excited!

My eggplant is starting to bloom!!! It is so pretty. 

I love using my home grown veggies and herbs for cooking. 

Seattle!!!

The beginning of our trip
 

Hanging out with cousin Riley

At an Irish pub

Will and I went on vacation last week. It was so nice to get away. Part of his vacation was spent at home taking care of things around the house...The end of it was spent in Seattle! We had such a good time. In true Pacific Northwest style, the start of our trip was pouring down rain. If it had to rain at least it was at the beginning while we were driving. This trip was an early anniversary celebration. We will have been married 7 years at the end of next month. Crazy! It has gone by so fast. We went to dinner at a fancy restaurant in downtown Seattle. Afterwards we enjoyed a dessert at my favorite, The Melting Pot. There we were joined for drinks by Will's cousin, Riley. It had been such a long time since we saw him. He is such a sweet, bright guy. Definitely a joy to be around.

The next morning, we headed to Pike Place. On our way, we saw the Olympic Garden (I believe that is the correct name) that had a walkway filled with art.

A piece of art that allows you to hear sounds when sitting there

Neat headphones!

Pike Place

Pike Place was very neat. There were a lot of great vendors with neat things to sell. We bought a new piece of art for our house. Of course, we saw the fish market. Very neat. I have never been on a ferris wheel, so we were going to ride the one on the docks...but I wanted the traditional experience where it is an open seat. We ate lunch at the Fisherman's Restaurant and Bar. It was delicious! I had clam chowder and calamari. It was nice enough that we ate outside overlooking the water.

It was huge!

Where we had lunch

Such a beautiful view

Since it was my first time, we had to go see the Space Needle. Such a sight to see. I am so glad we went. We decided against going up. I did not feel the need.

The Space Needle

Go Orioles!!

We had tickets to go see the Mariners play our favorite team, Baltimore Orioles. We were amongst a small group wearing orange that day (but more than I expected). The stadium is amazing! The food is awesome. It was a pretty cold night, so we had to give in and buy a Seattle Mariners blanket. You can see how excited Will was below. Such traitors. Although, Will likes the Mariner's OK. He just likes Orioles better! I am an Orioles and Nationals fan. Sorry Seattle. The blanket was nice and warm though. Orioles won!! It was Knit and Pitch night. So many ladies gabbing and knitting away.

so cold

Walking back to the hotel

The view from the top of our hotel

 

 

 

Pike Place

I love sailboats

 

A very neat city

 

Our hotel

 

We did not have time this trip, but next time I really want to see the Fremont Troll. It sounds so neat.

~ Love, Hugs & Kisses ~

The B Family

Summer Days

We have had a very interesting week. Or should I say a sweaty and hot week. Our AC broke. Right in the middle of one of the hottest periods of the summer. Our house was getting into the 90's. That made for four sweaty and grumpy people hanging out together. Actually, I think we all handled it pretty well. It was miserable though. It is still not fixed, but it cooled down the last two days. We were eating dinner on our front porch to cool down. Thankfully, our AC was not quite a year old...so it is under warranty. Hopefully, it will be fixed before our Seattle trip. I would hate for my mom to have to spend time here when it is hot. I am so excited for our vacation.

 

 I cannot believe summer is already halfway done. We are having a blast though. The kids and I have been going on a lot of adventures. It has been fun. They have been helping me a lot in the yard. Who knew I would end up liking yard work...I just love it!

 

Will has been able to take a lot of time off this summer, which has been nice.

 

Painting rocks for the kids garden

Meli's were very colorful

Doing a science project with dad

the whole family washed the car - Meli kept washing the same spot

Taking breaks for ice cream



Farm days



I want to adopt this little guy

My buddy and I

My Little Brother is 30!!!

Today, my little brother...well from the picture  you can see he is not so little. I did not realize he was that much taller than me. I am probably standing on my tippy toes too! Anyways, today is his birthday!! He has left his 20's behind and has joined me in the 30's group. I bet he is just so excited!! One of the reasons I am excited to be back on the west coast, is being closer to him. We have spent majority of the last 12 years in different cities, states, and even countries here and there.

I could not imagine a sweeter brother than Greggie. The youngest and quietest of us kids; he had to put up with a lot. Willie and I can be so talkative and loud. I have learned since being back in Oregon, that he can talk when he wants to. He will go on for a while too. Still quietly though.

 

I am so proud of my brother - From his Marine service to his current career path. Buying

a house at such a young age and his gardening abilities. He puts his mind to something and does it. Very admirable. He is also such a great uncle to the kiddos. They just adore Uncle Greggie!!!

 

He has a good size garden (I am very jealous) that he is constantly growing new things. He does not stick with the same veggies each year. For his birthday, we joined him in a gardener of the month club. He will receive 8 packets of different veggies the first month and 4 each month there after. I am excited to see what he gets.

 

So...Happy Birthday, Greggie!!! I am so glad we were able to celebrate with you yesterday. Love you!!

My sweet Uncle David was able to come visit for Greggie's birthday!

"I found the ducks, Mama"

Meli has discovered my little secret...that I go on solo morning jogs before Colin and her wake up. So now she is waking up in time to join me. Yay! **enter sarcasm**

It makes the runs more walks and a little less productive for mama's goals. Still they are enjoyable. This morning we went to feed the ducks, but they were all gone. Meli was very concerned. So we explored around the river looking for the ducks. It really was a beautiful morning. 

On our way back, Meli found a few of the ducks under a bridge swimming in the river. "I found the ducks, Mama!"

She also told me she "got Mama's shodo" (shadow). 

Veggie Project Update

A while back, I posted a picture of Colin's seedling (sunflower) project from school...look how much it has grown! He has had so much fun watching it grow from the seed. We had to move it to a bigger home today. It was long overdue.

During my morning walk thru (I just love being out there) I noticed some new veggies popping up!

My yellow squash.

Strawberry

Spaghetti squash

Cantaloupe 

Meli loves the pepper. I cannot wait for it to turn orange.

Tomatoes!!!!

Stars, Stripes, and Love

 

I truly enjoyed our 4th of July. It was a beautiful day spent with people I love. We went on a hike up to the waterfalls. Colin and Meli had so much fun. It has been about a year since we had been to this waterfall. I enjoyed seeing the difference in how Meli handled the terrain. She did so much better. She was still my little buddy in the freezing cold water. Meli really wanted to touch the waterfall, but the water was pretty deep for her. I was able to get underneath it. So beautiful!

 

Hiking buddies

 

 

Our hiking leader

Daddy & his girl

The falls

My little buddy

Going on an adventure

It was so cold

the brave ones

I found a very pretty rock that I really, really wanted for our yard. Normally, I do not take things from nature, but I loved this one. So, we were told that if you say a blessing it balances it out. As we were leaving, Will was carrying my rock (a good size one) and I was saying my blessing. During which, I tripped twice and Meli fell down three times. Then further up, we kept hearing this sound similar to a door screeching. I looked up and noticed a thin, very tall tree swaying drastically. It was the only one doing so and it was not windy. Needless to say, Will put the rock down and we kept moving on. No more trips after that! Mother Nature - we got the message.

Beautiful nature

Later on, we headed to P-pa and Mi-Ma's for a BBQ. The kids always have so much fun at their house. P-pa let the kids light the briquettes with candles. Helping Meli of course. They thought that was the coolest. Meli even said, "this is so cool!"

P-Pa & the kids

We had a great day with family, enjoying great food and desserts. Followed by a firework show (from the races) and some of our own. Will said I am not allowed to pick the fireworks next year. Apparently, the ones I picked out were not very exciting. To my credit, the kids were with me and, of course, wanted  the tanks and turtle shaped ones. At least the kids liked them. All I need is the poppets. I love poppet wars!

Daddy and Colin

My loves

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4th of July!!