Rod's playing at a resort out of town this weekend and Ali & the kids are going along; they are leaving later today and returning on Sunday! It was all Malina for me last weekend with a shot of Gin & Jün, and I felt like I needed some time with the Big Kids before they go so took them for a few hours last night.
We decided to ride our bikes to the park. I don't know what made me think that riding my bike was a good idea… Ginny still needs a lot of assistance (she's a distracted driver!) My around-the-corner-and-down-the-block neighbors happened to be on their front porch, so we stopped to chat for a bit, and they suggested that I leave my bike there and pick it up on the return trip. BRILLIANT! (Thank you, thank you!)
We had a great time at the park!
Ginny recently had her bangs trimmed by her mum. Guess who trimmed Junah's yesterday??? It's just a rite of passage, isn't it? Haha.
I just love Jün's floral pants. Gin's wearing her In Threes cardigan! In other news, after the regression in potty training when Malina arrived on the scene, Gin seems to be interested once again! Yahoo! Ali cloth diapers her kids almost always, so this would bring some welcome relief in the laundry department.
Yesterday was my first CSA pick up of the season and I'm SO HAPPY to be doing this again. My farmers are Park Ridge Organics, and they use a system where I can customize my share. Right off the bat, I can go in and indicate that I generally hate arugula but love spinach and am okay with pac choi, so I'll never get arugula but lots of spinach and a little pac choi. Then they send a specific email every week telling me exactly what will be in my box — and I can change it even then, this instead of that, or adding anything else that they might have available.
This week, they indicated that they'd be sending me a basil plant. Well, I love basil and Rusty just finished repairs to a planter on the pergola, so I added three more plants (which Rusty planted this morning before it rained – YAY!). I also added some extra green onions and another head of butterhead lettuce this week.
Another thing I love is an add-on of mixed mushrooms every other week. Yum. We had a great salad with dinner last night.
Our volunteer catalpa tree near the pergola is getting very big and has so many flowers this year!
Catalpa trees remind me of Sharon. I never noticed them until one June, visiting Sharon (an arborist), I noticed an enormous flowering tree in the park across the street from her house and she told me what it was.
Speaking of Sharon…
I miss her, of course, but especially on a day like today…
It's the twins' 58th birthday!! Sharon on the left, Karen on the right, that amazing old playpen… no bells & whistles on those models (nor cushioning)!
And speaking of birthdays, a year ago this week we were eating paella in Spain…
…to celebrate Mack's birthday. This year, he's 13 — a TEENAGER!! So crazy.
Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday to Mack!! I can't wait to see them all next month.
As if that's not enough, Ali & Rod are celebrating their 5th Anniversary today!!
WUT?? Can you even believe that?
Time FLIES . . . says the mother of a today-29-year-old! (Yeah. Today is Erin’s birthday, too!) I don’t know how that even happens. . . Much to celebrate, Vicki. And, as always, thanks for sharing your most adorable grandchildren. XO
All the good things in this post! Have a great weekend.
What a great post full of family and nature! I love CSA! I can customize mine too and I just got garlic scapes today. Will you make pesto with all that basil?
That CSA sounds fabulous! We stopped using ours a few years ago when they stopped offering it and I never signed up with anyone else. Glad you got to spend time with the big kids (it’s all relative, right? LOL) before their weekend away. And Happy Anniversary to Ali & Rod!
This post is certainly full of “where did the time go?” and “how can that be?” moments! They do grow up quickly….ALL of them. Now I’m thinking of how good a mushroom salad would be with tonights dinner! Happy Birthday, Mac! and Happy Anniversary Ali and Rod! Vicki, you always honor the people in your family with such wonderful posts. Sharon would be pleased to know you remember the tree.
Junah’s hairdresser did a good job! It reminds me of the many times my sister and I got tired of trimming dolls’ hair and started playing beauty shop on each other’s hair. The catalpa tree also brings back great memories of gathering flowers from my grandmother’s tree, mixing them with water, and being so sad about the slimy, moldy mess that resulted instead of the sweet-smelling catalpa “perfume” we had imagined. I’m imagining some tasty pesto in your future; what a great CSA!
oh my goodness – so many wonderful photos and good memories! along with a few happy birthday and one big happy anniversary wish! I forget that my Katie and your Ali were married just a few weeks apart – crazy how much life they’ve both crammed into these five years! I plan to enjoy your CSA vicariously … please keep sharing the photos!
5 years! And those red shoes are still the best! I love the red heads! I