The yard!

We've been trying to do a lot around the yard. We didn't have much to work with (except for the fabulous peony plants!) so we've been digging beds and gardens ourselves.

The window boxes and hanging baskets on our porch are always tricky. They only get about 10 mins of sun a day, so hardly anything will grow. This year I went with simple impatients in both, thinking that maybe simplicity is best. I also got self-watering hanging baskets where I can just fill up a reservoir once every couple years. Last year I had a lot of trouble reaching the watering can up to water the baskets! I may have put too many in each, but I had no idea...so this year is for learning!:)

Let's see how much they've grown...

May 3rd

May 19th. Good growth!

May 3rd

May 19th - Looking good!

The front steps planter. Only one pic of this. I had bought semi-shade plants, but then realized it the begonias were getting WAY too much sun. So I moved those to under a tree and bought some petunias and sweet potato vines. Hope they do well!

Last year we planted right in the earth with only a couple bags of organic fertilizer soil. The plants didn't do too well, and we were betting it was because of the clay soil, which neither of us had ever gardened in before. Y'know...New England has real soil!:) So this year we did raised beds. Kevy built them all buy himself!

Check out the toy snake - to scare those birds away from the seeds!

We got a ton of split perennials from a neighbor. The pics are pretty boring, but this is mostly what they look like. Some of them are actually doing very well and starting to bloom, but they'll make for much better pictures next year when they come up fresh.

Spring spring spring

One of the things we really like about Cincinnati is that there is an actual SPRING here! You New Englanders know that back home most of "spring" is actually just a slightly warmer version of winter with tons of rain instead of snow. Cinci has its share of rain during the spring, but not weeks upon weeks...and the weather is much nicer.


We have a few awesome peony bushes in our backyard. Last year I watched the blooms die on the branches, and this year I was determined to take advantaged of them! The main blooms are only at peak for about a week, and so I cut a bunch and brought them inside to display in vases. Our house looked awesome! Now the side blooms are blooming and they don't do as well inside, I'm guessing because of their thinner stems.

Also a couple of roses in there. Deer and aphids got most of our roses so far this year, but these two were great. I can't wait for next year's peony crop!

Mr. Cutie, posing in his school clothes. He had his last day of preschool for the year this past Friday. I can't believe how big he's getting! Next year he'll be going 3 mornings a week, definitely looking forward to that.

We found a great seafood market near us. Pricey, but fresh and flown in often. Mmmm, steamers!

He loves them! Definitely our son!:)

Daddy loves them also. We're very competitive with our steamers, we count shells and everything:) Can't wait to come home this summer and have some more!

Showing off his May Day crafts.

He's taking swimming lessons! We joined the Y and they have great lessons there and he loves them. Right now he goes twice a week, but in June he'll go Mon-Thurs for 30 mins/day.

Practicing holding his breath in the tubby. Brave boy!

Swimming!

Kev's head is always too big for these self portraits, lol.

So cute!

Mmmm popsicles!

T-ball!

Guess who is going to be playing t-ball this spring! He now has his very own first bat, glove, ball and tee.

Daddy taught him how to wear a glove....



....play catch....

...and hit a home run!

Easter

Yup, Easter was a long time ago. Sorry!:) But finally...here they are!


Easter egg hunt! The bunny left yummy jelly beans in plastic eggs. Fun! Took him about 5 tries to find this one:)

MMMMM chocolate bunny!

Both of the boys love their chocolate bunnies:)

Our town Easter egg hunt! For the little kids, they just had to "find" 5 and then trade them in for a prize.

Look momma! An egg!

Checking out his loot.

He's never really into posing for group photos anymore:)

Yay! He's not afraid of the Easter Bunny!

Tennessee!

We went to Tennessee this weekend for Memorial Day. We had hotel points and decided it was time to explore the region south of us where we've never been! We stayed in Knoxville, but also checked out Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Smokey Mountains National Park. Pigeon Forge is kind of odd - a 4 lane strip with cheesy atractions on either side ....lots of stuff like laser tag and mini-golf. It's cheesy in a fun way, and I bet a family with teenagers would have a lot of fun. Gatlinburg is more low-key, stores fronting on a 2 lane road but again better suited for teenagers than a preschooler.

Downtown Knoxville - Market Square. Looks like the only part of town (aside from the area around the U of Tennessee) that could be fun. Lots of shops and restaurants. Of course, we couldn't keep Coulter away from the fountain. At least he paused long enough to let us take off his clothes!

Really Knoxville? Advertising that you were, at times, the first capital of Tennessee? Let's try to find something better to tell people about....

Cute little creek park outside of Gatlinburg/Smokey Mountains National Park. Coulter was not excited about taking a picture.

Not too sure that's how he's supposed to catch a football...

Ooooooh pretty!

Checking out an old homestead in the Smokey Mountains National Park. It was owned by a family of 10 (10!) and was just a square building with two fireplaces, along with some outbuildings. Makes you appreciate indoor plumbing!

But wow...this was their backyard! Not a bad tradeoff maybe.

Wow. Waterfall.

After driving through the mountains, Cole was wishing his arm was long enough to grab his "oh crap!" handle.

Pigeon Forge...stopped at a random roadside place with go-karts and rides. Told ya, totally cheesy and random! Momma and Coulter on a dinosaur ride.

Daddy and Coulter on a mini-racecar ride. I rode this with him 4 times and had Kev do the 5th ride (we had 6 tickets - 1 was "wasted" on the dino ride:)) when I felt like I was going to hurl.

Fudrucker's! Vaca weekend - dessert sundae before dinner! Though, the ice cream was made with milk, which probably made it healthier than the actual dinner of hot dog and fries.

Look! The mountains look like they have smoke rolling off of them! Get it...Smokey Mountains...

hahahaha. Soooo, did the XXX store owners get remorseful and put up some crosses? Or are the next door neighbors revolting? So many possibilities. Way to go, Tennessee:)

Cole entertaining himself on the ride home.

And here are some pics Cole took...

Self-portrait?

Foot and movie. These DVD players rule! Kept him entertained the whole ride.

And trucks of course...lots of truck pics!