Oscar Stew

One of Brinley’s birthday gifts was a butterfly habitat. She thought it was some kind of cruel joke that it didn’t come with real butterflies already in it. She was quickly soothed when she stamped the envelope and mailed away for her bugs in a box.

A couple weeks later the fateful day finally arrived. Live bugs? Yick!

Hello…ladies. There was some minor disappointment when the box revealed hairy little worms rather than big beautiful butterflies.

Dot the I’s cross the T’s. All procedures complied with. She takes her role as butterfly mama very seriously.

They might just be baby caterpillars now, but you don’t have to be too patient…

They’re already fattening up and practicing hanging from the ceiling.

We’ve only had the little guys for a few days, and they have already quadrupled in size. 

Time flies when you are having fun!

Life has been getting in the way of taking care of our summer crop, but we finally managed to get our hands covered in cow poop this weekend.

While Daddy raided Home Depot, we got to work planting sunflower seeds. Hopefully they grow tall enough to hide the struggling trees in the front yard. Try to look past Brinley’s hoochiness. Last year’s summer clothes still need a bit of an overhaul.

This weekend is going to be a long one kids! Junk food like this is a rarity in these parts; better take full advantage before Mommy changes her mind! hork! stuff! inhale!

Between naps Rowan spent her time in makeshift play cages protected from sawdust, nails and other manners of manly dangerment.

We didn’t keep her pent up the whole time. This was the first time she’d ever had free roam in the backyard. She came up with a new way of crawling, trying to minimize contact with the itchy-scratchy-still-half-dead-grass.

Ryan’s birthday came just in time for this project! Thanks Grandpa J for the handy-dandy nail guns! The birthday boy was too enthralled with his new toy to realize this was back-breaking, sweat-dripping labor!

Another one of Daddy’s birthday gifts. ha! We had the boy working overtime on bug patrol as we all meandered in and out of the house.

Happy Birthday to Daddy. The best birthday float ever!

Happy Birthday old man, now back to work!

The sweat was pouring, the muscles aching. Time for a lunch break. Grilled hot dogs are a summertime essential, shown here being devoured in true princess fashion.

Lunch is over, get back to work!  Rock removal specialist Rowan got busy clearing the border along the back fence for the planter boxes. She even tasted a few to make sure they were really rocks! Way to be thorough!

The planter boxes are finshed, and fit into their spaces like Cinderella slippers. Not-so-hoochie Brinley demonstrates the high quality clay found in 99% of Colorado backyards. Let the digging begin!

Friday came and went. We moved on to Saturday. Will we finish? Yes we will! But first, time for a sugar boost. By the way, Cherry Limeade and Mango Limeade taste really good together! A word of caution, double intake of icy Sonic beverages may lead to brain freeze!

Drew thought it would be helpful if we doubled the number of tools we had on hand. He planted a rake in this super fertile organic hummus. Scoob!

Rowan took five to devour a banana. Hey Rowan, is your zipper afraid of heights? Or big doughy bellies that threaten to suffocate?

One box complete, four to go. Them herbs and onions are lookin’ real nice. grow babies, grow!

Three down, two to go. Give those plants a drink Drew, they look a little depressed from transplant stress!

Mission complete! Everything’s planted, fertilized, and watered. The soaker hose is one of man’s finest inventions. We couldn’t have done it without Drew’s snowboots. Way to be prepared!

About an hour after we were finished the sky ripped open and it poured. We finished just in time! The kids have been sure to mention the garden in their prayers…heres’s to a successful harvest!

We came. We camped. We conquered.

Drew & I had the privilege to go on the Father & Son campout at the new Girl’s Camp site. Sorry Sisters, it isn’t quite the Hilton yet, but we did get the pine cone toilet paper stocked and bear-breath hair dryers installed…

First step: Construct our humble abode. I was thrilled at the discovery of a campsite that had been “finished” that no one had called dibs on. Sand might be firm, but it’s a lot softer than rocks!

Second step: Explore! We found plenty of “evidence” from elk and moose, but were unsuccessful in our quest to track the bear.

Third: I will teach you an important lesson in history Drew. You see, the red man makes a small fire and sits very close. The white man makes a big fire and sits far away. Which kind of fire do you want to make? That’s what I thought…

It was a cold night, but nothing us tough guys couldn’t handle. Now it was time to get to “work”. As a group we opted to stay away from the chainsaws, bonfires, and falling trees and stick to making our campsite the best in the whole forest. 

Here be Fire King and his sidekick Flame Boy, having labored much in the log moving specialty.

Finally my patience won out and I was able to photograph this rare Pine Monkey searching for his friends during hide & seek.

That’s enough dirt for one weekend. Seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeya!