Summer days

There has been a lot of hanging out with friends around here so far this summer. Lots of kids in our neighborhood, and this means that there is always someone to play with. Yesterday we had eight of them out in the street playing between our house and the house across the street for the majority of the day and night. These kids have all grown up together for the past 8.5 years.

At one point there were a couple riding bikes, a few doing fireworks and a couple playing catch with Brian in the street. Within just a few minutes there were three balls down in the sewer/drainage ditch, and when Steve (across the street) retrieved a crowbar to open the hatch the kids all came running over. It's amazing how something adventurous can stop all of them in their tracks. When Steve acted like he was going to put his son, Aiden, down into the hole he freaked out. We all thought it would be a great way to get the balls!

Brian the lumberjack with the shovel.

(l-r) Madison, Layla, Erin and Dannica

It's nice that the kids all have friends close by, and it gives me time throughout the day to study without having to worry about keeping anyone occupied. Although they are all in and out of our house all day long I'm still able to get a lot done. It's great.

The new sod went down in the yard today, but here's a picture of it yesterday. It was all dug up and ready to be redone. Looks nice, doesn't it? Brian spent the entire day laying the sod today, and it already looks so much better. My garden is huge, and I already have about 60 tomatoes (4 different varieties), cucumbers and corn that will be ready to be picked within days. We also have scallions, carrots, pumpkin, cantaloupe, peppers, spinach, lettuce and sunflowers growing like crazy. I'll take a few pictures of the garden this weekend.

The yard with no grass-all dug up.

Just a random picture of a bottlebrush flower. I love them.

I finished up one of my summer classes last week, and have two more that will end on July 20. I'm looking forward to the 30 day break that comes after that before my FINAL semester of pre-med begins. Sean will be coming home from his summer travels the day after tomorrow, and I'm excited to see him. He left on June 1, and it seems like it's been so much longer. He had the chance to visit two places he had never visited (Denver and Los Angeles) and spend some time with grandma and grandpa in Oregon. Although I know that he's had a great time I'm ready to have all three of my babies home together again.