Goodbye June, Hello July!

We made it. We survived the month of June. This past month was totally insane. Every weekend was filled with birthday parties, graduation ceremonies and celebrations, class reunions, and baby showers. The weekdays were spent preparing for all those events and sometimes even more parties or family dinners were held on the week nights. Of course we wanted to add to the chaos, so we threw in a camping trip up to Hume for a week as well, coming home the night before I hosted a large baby shower and family birthday dinner for Ray & Laura and their boys. Finally, to cap off the month, I attended a week-long Montessori class in SLO, requiring me to find childcare every day and get myself and both boys up and out of the house by 8 each morningYep, total madness.

Oh, and did I mention that we decided to redo the front planters and while we were at it, go ahead and finally put some plants in along our driveway? Of course, I wanted it done before the party, so by the time I got my act together and got everything picked out and ordered, the plants arrived three days before we left for vacation. And no, it wasn't just throw the things in the ground. Oh no. It was more like dig everything up that we planted two years ago, re-work the soil, grade everything out just so, rearrange heavy objects like dog houses and wine barrels filled with plants, place drip line, and spread out new wood chip. And that was just for the planter under the windows. The planter under the swing had to be totally cleaned out as well, with an olive tree and rose bush transplanted, and a nice path created out of pavers leading to the swing, before the new plants could go in. All this done in less than four days. My husband is a saint.

This picture, as well as the next, was taken a couple years ago, when we put in new windows in the front bedrooms. We've since replaced the flagstone with siding to match the rest of the house.

I didn't know what I was doing when I picked out plants the first time, so I accidently planted a ground cover that took over the whole planter. It had to come out. Oh, and everything else that I planted died. Oops.

So this picture was taken about six weeks ago. That awful ground cover was pulled out, as were the Canna's (the tall, big leaf plants in the middle). The lambs ear was transplanted to either end of the planter, and the honeysuckle stayed where it was, since that was apparently one good thing that I did pick out.

These are the plants that our wonderful Plant Consultant picked out for us (I hired a professional this time around). A couple of Nandina shrubs under the windows, some Penstamons throughout the middle, and a mixture of day lilies along the front. Oh, and we put the Canna's back right where they were, just to drive Nathan crazy. I'm joking (about my intention, not about the Canna's).

The "After" picture.

After all that work, escaping to Hume Lake was a welcome respite. Nathan fished, Ben rode his bike and created all kinds of things with fire wood and pine needles, and Brayden took in all the scenery via his multiple seats:

The Bumbo

The Jumperoo

The Bouncer



Of course, there were no shortage of arms to be held in as well, seeing that Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Travis were all there with us. As for myself, I sat around a lot too, simply because I was absolutely exhausted. The month's activities had worn me out, but I also was getting less than four hours of sleep each night because Brayden was sick while we were up in the mountains. A five month old baby with a bad cold and fever, sleeping in a new place, means no sleep for Mom, unfortunately. However, we still had a good time and are already planning the next trip.

Heading into the tunnel tree.

What is it with boys that they have to climb everything?