Annual post for Grandpa Roger

Grandpa Roger loves his gardens. Here is the annual post of pictures of our gardens in full bloom. I love spring!

Front Perennial Gardens:

Front hanging basket:

Backyard perennial gardens & path to the fire pit.:

Some of our vegetable gardens:

Who left the oven door open....

What a fabulous week of weather! Yesterday the temp in Minneapolis approached a record 95 with a heat index of over 100. A little different playing soccer last night than a couple of weeks ago when the kids had to wear pants, long sleeve shirts, hats and mittens. Unfortunately Logan's team got TROUNCED on Saturday 11-0.

The weekend was full of fun: dinner with some friends, playing with cousin Porter, date night for Shawn/Sara (we spent the night shopping for a new car - how romantic), playing outside, running, watching movies, etc. Last night the neighborhood kids all got together after soccer for a waterslide party at one of the houses and had a blast….somehow they ended up in the hot tub (where else do you go when it is 95?).

The excitement over the weekend is that Carter got a hair cut. No more "fuzzy wuzzy" beach bum look. It is still long on top, but at least the mullet is gone. Pictures will be posted this weekend.

Field trips: Logan started his string of "4" field trips last Friday. The kids walked to an eye clinic - Shawn chaperoned. The best part was when the Dr. was talking about the eye model and he pointed to the dark spot in the middle and asked if any kid knew the name for that part of the eye….one boy said, "the pimple." The answer of course was the "pupil" - it was hysterical for the adults. This Thursday Sara is joining Logan for the BIG field trip to Underwater World at MOA and Como Zoo. Hard to believe Kindergarten is almost over.

Shawn is in LA this week for work so we will decide on weekend plans when he returns Friday. If it is 85 in the cities and 65 in Duluth we will stay here and enjoy the weather.

Old McDonald Had A Farm.....

E...I...E...I...O

A beautiful string of spring days provided us the opportunity to get our garden planted. It is always a mixture of anticipation and the dreaded "here we go again with watering, weeding, and fertilizing" for the next 3-4 months. Either way, it is a passion of Sara and I.

This year we planted.....
(14) pots of flowers
(2) cantaloupe plants
(1) strawberry
(3) red pepper plants
(2) green pepper plants
(4) cucumber plants
row of snap peas
(2) rows of green beans
(2) cherry tomato plants
(2) regular tomato plants

All in about 20-25 sq ft of garden....this year we expanded to the side of our house and some pots for the veggies. With the Euro crashing Armageddon may be around the corner so we need to start growing our own food!

Other weekend adventures included:
-Shawn and Logan went golfing with Grandma Closer
-Logan soccer
-"Lakeville Safety Days" (kids loved climbing on the fire trucks and ambulances)
-"Kids Day America" (tons of food, inflatables, games, and vendors)
-Hiking in the woods and camp fire in the fire pit
-Logan play dates
-Zoo
-Biking, running, oh my

I am exhausted - time to go to bed. Weekends are always filled with lots of activities and time outside now that the weather is good. Enjoy your week!

Happy Mothers Day to ALL - and to all a good night

Yes - I am exhausted. No business travel for 3 weeks equals 3 weeks without sleeping through the night :-) Actually we have had a fabulous week...despite all the cold weather and rain. Here are the fun facts in the Mayfield Adobe this week.

Twins Game -
We were blessed with (4) free tickets to the Twins game Friday night...second row behind the Twins dugout. The new stadium is beautiful! Unfortunately Friday had a high of 48 and it rained all day - thankfully the game was cancelled and rescheduled for Saturday pm. Saturday was still cool, but we managed and it turned out to be a lovely night. Carter came down with the croup this week so we didn't want to expose him to the cold weather - or the fans around us to a 3 year old who can't sit still. As a result, Logan invited his cousin Dominic. The boys had a great time chowing on hot dogs and cotton candy. Twins WON!

Soccer started a couple of weeks ago. These pictures are from the first week when it wasn't snowing. Yes...for the second season in a row we had a couple snow flakes during the game this Saturday. Logan loves soccer and it is great exercise for him! He has improved a lot from last season. Shawn is doing is best coaching (8) 6 year olds on how soccer is not a full contact sport. So far we are 1:1. Logan is #1.

Happy Mothers Day to ALL! Sara had a nice Mothers Day. After church we went to Clearly Lake and enjoyed time at the park running/roller blading/biking around the lake. Logan made Mom a "sweet pea" picture frame in school and both of the boys got Mom a new suit for work. Our annual tradition of planting the vegi garden and patio flowers on Mothers Day was postponed till next weekend - it was only 32 degrees this AM!

On a positive note....our kitchen is finally done being remodeled! All I have to say is starting from scratch would have been a lot easier than a remodel! Worst part of the job - having to hire someone to cut the granite back so our new stove would fit in the hole....you would think all holes are the same size! Imagine DUST, DUST, and MORE DUST.

And to all a good night - safe travels Roger and Karen!