First Day of School

First Day - an oddly chilly morning for the end of August and

they were READY to go!

2nd and 4th grades - what?!

They both came home and reported that the first day was awesome - no complaints. I love that!

Weekend in Philly

Ben and I took off a week ago with another couple to Philly for the weekend. Kind of crazy, but it was a lot of fun.

So long Kansas, 

hello Philadelphia!

Our hotel was an eight room converted row house called the Dwight D.

We fell in Love the moment we walked in!

Check out the detail in the floor!

The owner was very friendly and helpful and because nobody was using the studio apartment on the top floor, she let us have that room.

Looking down from the landing just outside our room to the hotel's little backyard.

It was a great space - although you had to make sure and not bump your head on the slanty walls!

Looking out the back of our room. The front windows looked down on to the street outside the hotel.

Saturday was a full day of checking out the city and going to a concert - Avett Brothers with Zac Brown Band. We started with coffee.

And we did a lot of walking - but it was amazing how quickly we got to a lot of historic sites by simply walking. Philly is easy to get around and they have great signage to help you along the way.

The Liberty Bell. I was also reminded of how little I remember/know about American history!

Christ's Church - where George Washington and many other signers of the Constitution used to worship. It was fascinating - the pews are new, installed in 1880....

We visited the street that claims to be the oldest, private residential neighborhood in the U.S. Apparently all the homes are original, have always been owned by individuals, never corporations, etc.

We saw a couple drive their car up to their front door to unload groceries - there was barely enough room in the street for them to open their car doors!

Betsy Ross's house:

Eastern State Penitentiary:

We did the audio tour of this place and it was fascinating!

The whole place felt creepy,

sad. and beautiful all at the same time.

Then we explored Reading Terminal Market. It's like a farmer's market on steroids. You can get many, many kinds of prepared foods, plus fresh meat, cheese, veggies, etc.

This peanut butter cream filled doughnut was so amazing. I can't even explain it.

At a $1.95 per stem, my zinnia patch in the garden could bring in some big bucks! If only I were in Philly....

We bought some Amish made dill cheese that was so incredible. The dill was fresh and intense and the cheese melted in your mouth. It was so, so good.

And then after we rested, grabbed a bite to eat we went to the concert!

We had a wonderful time and the concert was amazing. Both bands put on a good show - nothing too flashy, but a lot of music.

The Avett Brothers were amazing, as usual.

And Zac Brown Band was too - although it was dark and impossible to get a decent photo.

The next morning we were up early to get to the airport. It was kind of brutal....sitting and waiting for the train to pick us up.

We had a great time with JD and Lindsay and really enjoyed Philadelphia, too!

Last Blast of Summer Fun

August flew by me in a blur of activity and heat. It was full of good stuff so here's a peak at what kept us busy.

Threshing Days! :-) This year, Noah rode his bike to town and by the time the parade started he was HOT (red-faced) and tired. He still managed to have energy to collect a bunch of candy, though.

 Noah helped shag volleyballs at the Threshing Days Sand Volleyball tournament, so having his bike was essential to him getting around town that day. Both of the boys did the pedal pull - it's a tradition by now.

 Noah got first place in his age division!

 We also spent time with my sister and my niece - a day at the water park in Salina and then hanging out on the farm. We ended the day with Noah driving the four-wheeler and pulling Rylee and Levi on the hay wagon.

 We spent a super-fun day with friends at a place called Elm Mills - thanks to our friends for having access to the place. Lots of fun in the water and sun that day!!

 It's rare, but I did make cookies...

 Sometimes when it's hot, you just have to stay inside during the evening. It helps when the Royals are on TV, too. :-)

 Playing at Aunt Pat and Uncle Myron's pool with cousins - this happened a lot!

 The boys even got to play a tiny bit of golf with Ben at Myron's golf course.

 And finally water balloons! Water balloon baseball, no less.

And now it's time for school!

Garden Times

I can feel it, garden season is coming to a close for me. My energy for it is slowly dissipating. I love the idea of a fall garden, but the reality is that by the middle of August I'm not interested enough in it to pull it off. 

Our new garden has kept me busy this summer. I learned a lot, some of things less painfully than others. 

Corn - we need to learn when to pick it, letting it go too long makes it hard to enjoy. 

 Green beans - the plants produced beans longer than I needed or wanted them to - both a blessing and a curse.

 Cucumbers - They grow in all sizes! And for some reason, I wasn't in the mood to deal with them - I gave lots away to people and chickens.

 Zinnias - I love having them as a bright spot in my garden. The rest of the garden can be a mess, but the zinnias are always cheerful.

 Watermelon - such a fun plant to grow and harvest and eat!

 Tomatoes - they got off to a slllllllloooooowwwww start, but are going strong now.

 Lots of jars of sauce are lining my pantry shelves - ready to eat this winter!

 It took me a while, but I finally remembered to cut some zinnias to bring inside to enjoy.

 The sunflowers look tired and sad, but they still tower over the rest of the garden.

 Other flowers in the yard are doing well, too. With all the plants around the house being new it's been interesting to see what has worked and what hasn't. :-)

 Tomatoes - they just keep coming!

The most painful lesson I learned has no photo to go with it. I had a bunch of pumpkin and gourd vines growing in the garden - some volunteer, some intentionally. And today, we gathered up all the vines and the straw mulch around them, made a pile and set them on fire. Yes, we burned at least a quarter of our garden this morning. All because the infestation of squash bugs was utterly out of control. When I picked up a vine, the ground underneath was just covered in squash bugs. So, they all had to go. Next year - no pumpkins.

 And sometimes, I find time to relax in the hammock.

 And the boys sometimes put down their baseballs and gloves and spend time pushing each other on the swing.

The garden and yard can be a lot of work, but when the work is done and we can sit back and enjoy our space it's truly lovely.