I believe...

Kim over at the  The Inadvertent Farmer wants to know what we believe this week about our gardens.  So I took my camera out this morning for my daily morning check of everything.  Here's what I found:

I believe the boxes I let the kids plant all by themselves was a great idea!  I gave them my box of seeds a few weeks ago and let them fill up the boxes and plant whatever their heart desired.

The bush beans are really starting to come up and they are so thrilled.  She looks really excited, huh?  Well, she woke up right as I was going outside and insisted on coming with me. 

Then I went into my garden and I believe I almost cried.

My poor kohlrabi is done, kaput, and needs to be put out of it's misery.  Honestly, I don't even know what a kohlrabi is.  I've never seen or eaten one.  I just thought it sounded cool. 

Apparently, these evil things thought it sounded good too.  I guess I'll never get to try a kohlrabi.

I believe that I WILL have winter squash even though I planted it really late. 

I believe that my cucumbers will take over the world!

I believe that these are the cutest peppers ever!

I believe that my corn is finally almost as big as everybody else's corn that I see while driving home.

and my tomatos are now bigger than my child!  This is a first for me! 

Please excuse her clothing.  She likes to sleep in her daddy's t-shirts.

I believe that watching her peek into the zucchini plant to see how big they have gotten over night is the cutest thing ever!

I believe I'm going to need a wide variety of zucchini recipes soon.

Even though it's not as big as others, and things are growing slowly, I believe this is the biggest, best garden I've ever had!

And for my last belief, I believe these are the most evil creatures in the world.

Especially, after one of them squirted me with green juice when I squished it.

I really wish they'd leave my beautiful tomatoes alone!

There's one more thing I want to share that's totally unrelated to gardening, but it's really cool.

One of our tadpoles has his little froggy legs!!

Summer's Simple Pleasures Series- Fishing and Having the Funnest Daddy in the Whole World!

I love this series! We had the most amazing 4th of July weekend.  We started off with a local small town parade, festival, and fireworks display on Saturday.  The highlight of my son's day was throwing a softball at the dunking tank and dunking the local high school baseball coach so many times I lost count.   I am ashamed to say I forgot my camera. 

As much fun as that day was, the next was even better!  We drove to the nearest lake and tried to catch some fish. 

The kids pulled in fish after fish...

after fish.

Dad caught one little bass.   I caught absolutely nothing.  Seriously, if we had to rely on our fishing skills for food, we'd be really hungry.

But we had fun and that's all that matters!

 
We got hot out there and luckily everyone brought a swimsuit because there was a beach there!  We had never been here and didn't know what to expect.  It was an adventure.

So we decided to drive over to the beach to cool off.

I've never seen my two kids have so much fun together and get along so well (for the whole day).  It was amazing to watch them play together with such joy on their faces.

Getting a ride on your big brother's shoulders has to be the best thing ever!

It was a perfect day for ...

covering yourself in sand....

then showing everybody your sand covered muscles...

then running full speed back into the water...

Then Daddy decided to join in the fun.

and let them jump off his shoulders...

again...

and again...

and again...

They played for hours!

I'm not sure who had more fun...

I love that Dad is so much fun.  What could be a better memory than jumping off your daddy's shoulders at the lake for hours?

and hanging on to him for dear life when you can't touch?

It was a beautiful day...

in so many ways...

It will be a day we will remember forever...

"So, kids, how much fun did you have today?"

"THIS MUCH!!!"

Summer's simple pleasures

My friend Kim over at The Inadvertent Farmer has a wonderful idea.  The idea is to enjoy the simple pleasures of summer.  In her words, "Think popcicles dripping down your chin, bike rides at sunset, playing catch, going fishing...you know simple old-fashioned fun!"  

Here is some of our "old-fashioned fun" from this past Saturday!

Blackberry picking! Yum Yum

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Fresh blackberries.

One for me...... one for my bucket.....

 

One for me..... one for my bucket....

What could be better than fresh blackberries right off the bush, warm from the summer sun?

Pure Joy!!

What could be better?

hmmmm....

How about...

Rope swings at the swimming hole...

and...

climbing the muddy banks of the creek to explore...

 

What's better than trying a rope swing for the first time?

and loving it!

How about beetles crawling on your fingers?

or skipping rocks...

How about talking your little sister into "riding the rapids on your tummy" first?

Then after seeing how much fun it is...

doing it together...

What's more fun than handstands in the creek?

or taking a break from swimming...

for some ice cold watermelon...

What could be more fun than discovering this guy...

or better yet, this guy!

How about topping off the day with going for ice cream?

and enjoying it outside...

while watching these little guys...

Then staring at this...

during the sleepy ride home...

Does it get any better than this?

Nope.

I don't think so.