Sprinklers & A Swimsuit Fashionista

We had like 3 days of 75-85 degree weather a few weeks ago. We took advantage and pulled out the sprinkler. The kids had so much fun - despite the constant tears from Berlin that the sprinkler is too tall and she wants it smaller, so small that you'd think it wasn't even on. She lost. Hence her grumpy expression.

You may be wondering, "What the heck is she wearing?" Yeah, I was to when she came upstairs with not one, not two, but three different swimsuits on, terry cloth shorts, and 2 swim suit cover-up dresses. I made her take off the terry shorts & swim suit dresses, but she cried over the swimsuits so I let her keep all 3 on. The best part is that the bottoms weren't on right. She had one leg thru the waistband, and a leg-hole around her waist. What can I say- she's a fashionista in her own way.

Here today, Gone tomorrow - Final

Well, as of noon today, it's done. And I think our yard might be feeling a bit naked. Or maybe it's me, feeling a bit exposed to the world now. I can't wait to plant some new stuff.

For BEFORE pics, click here.

These are all "After" pics. They are going to bring a truckload of wood-chips back and we'll use them to clean up some areas I have already weeded and have yet to weed.

And here's all the firewood Ryan gets to cut. He doesn't know this yet as we had decided not to have any wood left behind. But I couldn't let perfectly good firewood go, so I had them leave me the trunk of the smallest pine tree. This is what he gets for having the scout 50-miler (which isn't really 50 miles, more like 25) when they took the trees out :)

Bear Lake Weekend #2

Since our first weekend at the cabin was rained out, we went up again to clear out more brush/bushes/trees and to fix a leaky valve on the water heater. Sunday was AWESOME weather so I took the kids to the beach while Ryan fixed the said water heater.

I'm glad we got the beach day in because of course it was cold, super windy, and eventually rained most of Monday. Which means we got to play lots of board games, read books, watched movies, saw deer in the yard, watched birds, and just chilled inside - except Ryan, he kept working outside, even in the rain. He unearthed this little gem:

raccoon? skunk? Definitely one of the two!

Of course, we did sneak in a little hike first thing Monday morning before it rained. Here's the kids on the trail eating their mid-hike snack (fruit leather, trail mix, and capri suns).

Tuesday was a bit nicer so we decided to head up to Minnetonka cave with the kids. This was their first cave visit. Berlin had to be carried the entire time. I carried most the way up and Ryan did the rest. Exhausting! Finley walked, and though his little legs got tired near the end (lots & lots of stairs to go up & down), he was a trooper and did awesome. We speculated if this cave was used by Batman, but Finley deduced that it wasn't because the bat jet wouldn't fit inside. He's one smart cookie. Speaking of bats, we saw plenty and they were kinda cute. Thank heavens the chihuahua sized rats didn't appear - that would have freaked me out.

After the cave, Ryan went back to work on the yard (bless his heart) and I took the kids to the beach for a couple hours. Then we headed home around 8:30pm. It was a long & productive weekend for Ryan and it feels great to have the Spring Cleanup pretty much done. Next time, he can enjoy himself a little more.

Weekend Slideshow:

Here today, Gone tomorrow

I'm a little sad that we are removing ALL 7 pine trees in our front/side yard today & tomorrow, but only when I think of the shade we will be losing. I will most definitely NOT miss the sappiest pine cones ever (all gazillion of them) and the annoying pine needles that are everywhere they shouldn't be. Here's to hoping we can get the grass growing & green again. I've already started planning new trees/bushes for the space which we'll hopefully get planted next Spring.

Day 1 Before

Day 1 After

Tomorrow, these will be on the chopping block - literally.

Front 2 pine trees and ...

One more pine tree by the back deck.

Metamorphosis

FROM THIS:

TO THIS:

THEN THIS:

AND NOW THIS:

Five of the ten butterflies emerged from their chrysalis today. It was very exciting (I might even say I think I was giddy like a schoolgirl). They sure are beautiful! Five more to go.

Berlin helped me sprinkle fresh cut flowers with sugar water (along with adding slices of grapefruit) so hopefully they'll survive because we can't wait to release them outdoors - if only the weather would clear up and stay warm long enough to do so.

This will definitely be an annual Spring tradition in our home. I can't wait to do this again next year.

(if you are interested, Insect Lore is the company that our habitat came from)