Grandma's Garden Project

My mom (or maybe my grandma or someone) recently had the idea that we should start a garden in my grandma Shirley's yard. We were planning on starting the project last Saturday, but weren't able to make it happen. We had the annual Easter egg hunt scheduled for Saturday (April 16), so we decided to get to work on the garden before the fun. So we headed up there in the morning and got to work.

First, we laid out some 2X6s  for the beds. We had 2 12 ft squares next to each other and a 10 foot square a little lower. Then we got to work removing the sod.

That's my brother Bobby in the top left; then my dad; my mom; me, of course; and to the far right, my brother in law Matt

It was starting to get pretty sunny, especially on the domes, but one of us was prepared:

Here's a nice picture of our butts (Rachel's been into photographing these lately. See the Muir Woods Run post). Also notice how the entire area is almost done. It looks easy in the picture, but removing the sod was hard work.

Lennon and the girls helped out where they could. Here's an adorable picture of Meghan bringing the wheelbarrow back after dumping the sod in the burn pile.

You probably noticed in the bottom right hand corner of the last picture a part of a wheel. That's papa Randy's off road go cart type vehicle. The kids get a kick out of riding it. Once it was out, they quickly abandoned their work and got to play. Pay particular attention to the second time Lennon goes around the far side of the tree in this video.

Ah yeah! If you pay close attention you can hear Lennon's reaction to his spin out. It's exactly the same as the time his father spun out in a Volkswagon on the Freeway, just not repeated 3 times.

Then it was Abby's turn. She kindly allowed her little sister to ride shotgun.

Abby was all about trying to get air--and get it documented. Both of these videos and these pictures are at Abby's request to document her in flight. I did my best, and although I didn't really get them in the air, I got some pretty dang cute pictures of my two adventurous girls.

 Abby was really trying to get some air off of the little bump. And in her defense, I know from personal experience (with a 3 wheeler) that you really do feel like you're getting some good air, even though the video documentation doesn't really support that. Watch her final attempt to capture her hang time on video. Pay particular attention to the last corner on the second lap before the "jump." It tells the whole story.

I'd like to believe that I busted up laughing only after I knew that the girls were ok. I'd like to believe that.

After that crash, I decided Abby had done enough driving for the day, so I put Meghan in the driver's seat--even if she couldn't rest her back on it and reach the gas pedal at the same time. Relax; I sat next to her, in case I needed to take charge of the steering wheel (which I did a few times, at first, but she got it).

After a little play time I did get back to work. Before we left we had the beds laid out, rototilled, and we drove the posts in for the fencing.

 Part 2:
We went back on Tuesday afternoon after the soil was delivered to wheelbarrow it down to the beds. We made a lot of trips down the hill with heavy wheelbarrows, but we got it done. The next step is planting!

On one trip down the hill, I dislodged a rock and saw this guy underneath. I picked him up so the kids could see him (and for proper documentation, of course). As I was putting him back where he came from, I let the kids touch him one last time. Meghan was a little hesitant so I assured her that he wouldn't bite. Right after she moved her hand away, the little guy did what I told Meghan he wouldn't do. He bit my thumb. I guess I deserved it.

 

Kicking off Spring Break at Willow Creek 4-15-2011

Man, I have been looking forward to Spring Break since, like, New Year's. And especially now that the sun is starting to shine I have been wanting to get the family outside. In fact, I've been promising Meghan for a while now that we would get out and ride bikes. I guess the driveway doesn't count. So when I got home, we loaded up the bikes and headed for Willow Creek. (Meghan's still in the beginner stage, so we just want to get her out in a wide open space where she can pedal around). I tried to work in a bike/canoe adventure, but the canoe part was vetoed by the kids who did not want to minimize bike time. I reluctantly agreed. 

Rachel was in charge of the camera on this trip and I must say she did a spectacular job.

I had a little work to do on Abby's bike, so Abby needed to find something to do to pass the time. Meanwhile, Rachel was experimenting with the camera:

Then I still had work to do on Abby's bike, so Rachel did some portrait work. I think these pictures turned out great:

After a while of riding on the asphalt, the kids started working their way towards the gravel. After tiring of the gravel Lennon tried something new:

Before we left Lennon, Abby and I jumped in the water. It wasn't family camp cold, but it was close. Unfortunately, Meghan had taken a little tumble on the gravel and Rachel was in the car helping her, thus we have no photographic evidence of our brief aquatic adventure.

And of course, a wildlife sighting: this time a cormorant (I'm pretty sure).