Bull riding

Today went went on a morning walk through the neighborhood, toured a neighbor's garden, went to the farmer's market, ate bok choi we grew for lunch, and went to a city sponsored child oriented festival. The children climbed rock walls and rode the mechanical bull. The rock wall was their favorite, but the bull was the most fun to record.

Funny children

"My lotion fell off!" - Quinton, in reference to lotion I put on his foot this morning, wanting more.

Yesterday, he played in the chicken run and ended up with chicken poop on his pants. He brought me desitin to "lotion it off."

Zachary, Chayce, and Payge were playing a pokemonesque game on the trampoline. They kept evolving their characters. At one point they were arguing over which character was the fastest. I was digging a hole for a sandbox, and couldn't tell who was speaking, but one finally conceded that the other was the fastest, but that they were already there when the fastest arrived because they had instantaneous teleportation, which couldn't be considered fast since their speed was infinite and undefined. Later, they were arguing who was the most powerful. Z "I'm the most powerful" C "I'm the second mot powerful" P "I'm the most adorable!". Payge was a ballerina, whose evolutions including flashier costumes and accessories. Sparkly pink ribbons seem a league of their own compared to fire breathing teleporting ice dragons.

Garden update

It is now June 2nd. We have at least three little tomatoes and several paprika peppers on the vine.

These are blue potatoes. As compared to our purple potatoes, which are purple all the way through including skins. 

Tilled up the chicken run and planted quinoa, amaranth, wheat, oats, clover, alfalfa, and sunflowers. The hens are current blocked out until July to give the plants time to establish.

One of several wagon-loads of plants we put in the ground mid-May. We grew most from seed indoors. At one point the count was over 500 plants!

Payge washed all the planters when we finished.

A little green tomato

The bee hives - currently they are working the raspberries and the berry patches are louder than the hive entrances with buzzing. 

Our row garden with potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, peas, and pole beans

Our raised bed garden with tomatoes, sweet basil, celery, bak choi, peppers (18 different kinds this year), onions (white, yellow, red, and walking/Egyption), bush/dry beans, lettuce, cabbage, chard, and cucumbers. This picture was taken two weeks ago.

Bee bee tree seedlings. This is a late flowering (August/September) tree I want to establish in our and neighbor's yards to provide late season nectar flow for my bees (and my neighbors bees, as some already have and other want to obtain colonies).

Funny story. This is a hibiscus seedling. I have spent 6 months trying to get hibiscus (rose of sharon) started indoors, and finally have three 4-inch plants. When scoping the area I wanted to transplant them to, I found the picture seedling already in the area. Then I looked at the bush I have not bothered identifying at the end of the row I wanted to populate with hibiscus...yes, it was a very mature hibiscus bush. Irony? Coincidence? Both?

We ran out of space, so I tore out the grass next to our neighbor's new parking pad to put in the squash (yellow, green, black, and white pattypan summer squash; acorn, butternut, potimarron, and mormon pumpkin winter squash). This is separate from our patch of hulless pumpkin winter squash that we hope to get much seed from for granola.

The raised bed garden as seen from the back door.

From left to right behind the shade tree, pumkin patch, red, bear lake, and purple raspberries, corn/pole beans (though I think the robins took out most of the seed), and asparagus along the fence. Most can't be seen well in this picture, but I wanted it for comparison at the end of the summer.

Sandbox part 1

A friend had the use of a sod cutter, and somewhat on impulse, we took out a lot of grass. Then we had to decide what to do with the bare spot. So we dug a hole and have been improvising plans for a sandbox/climbing wall/slide play area. Digging has been excellent exercise in the evenings. Here is what we have so far.

The first several feet were easy to dig, but then we found a few small rocks.

Zachary likes excavating the rocks. Quinton is attempting to take off with 'daddy's truck,' but it was to heavily loaded with dirt.

Zachary and Chayce playing archaeologist trying to get through another layer of rock.

Here is what we have at writing. I need to anchor the top of the slide, put in retaining walls with climbing wall hand holds mounted on the insides, and fill it with a layer of gravel then sand. The retaining wall on the back will go a couple extra feet above the ground to make it fun for the older children, but stay at three feet on the side by the slide for younger children.

Wedding and Zions National Park

We drove to St. George to attend Jillian's niece's wedding (star wars themed on May the 4th). This girl was Chayce's age at our wedding. While there, we met a home school family at the park and went to the dinosaur tracks museum and a Chinese buffet with them.

16 foot climbing rocks at a park near the dinosaur tracks museum

Moonflower (datura) at the above pictured park that we saved seeds from and started upon returning home (and subsequently killed).

The girls with the friends they met at the park playing at the dinosaur tracks museum.

Quinton in daddy's glasses

Chayce practicing her teenage look

The children spent as much time as possible in the pool. It snowed the prior weekend at home, so St. George seemed quite warm to them.

This was taken just before he took off chasing a bird. He always 'catches' them and thanks them for a good run.

At the end of the dry part of the Temple of Sinawava hive in Zions National Park.

Temple of Sinawava trail head

Quinton loved the bus...now if the Asian tourists would just let him get on and off by himself rather than thinking they were rescuing a loose and in danger child...

The girls on the lower emerald pool hike

The other two girls on the emerald pool hike

Quinton didn't make it through the last bus ride

May 2014 Update

I'm in NC for work, trying make the time until my flight pass fast. So here are some recent pictures.

A stack of kids. And yes, I believe that is Zachary on the bottom, and yes, it was his idea.

Little Quinton at the library. He usually only lasts through two books before wanting to try the computers, which we let him do since the other three like to stay a long time.

Our peppers, tomatoes, and herbs hardening off outside.

I tilled the chicken run in preparation for planting quinoa, clover, alfalfa, amaranth, and sunflowers. I let them pick over the dirt a while before fencing off this section of the chicken run.

Payge on her first hive inspection. She even found the queen in the hive she inspected.

A queen cell. This hive will either swarm or supersede. I'm guessing the latter, otherwise we should have seen the swarm by now. Plus, they have been vengefully grumpy for me inspecting the hive and stung me all over the yard for the next three days.

The grumpy hive after their powdered sugar varroa mite treatment. Varroa is essentially a bee vampire, and the powdered sugar encourages the bees to groom the Varroa off of each other. 

Quinton playing with a tractor at the father son camp out.

Quinny sleeping at his fist camp out.

Mother's Day Drawings.

From Payge

From Payge

From Chayce

From Zac