So, first we have our backyard irises. This is their second year after transplant and last year they were pretty robust but this year...holy moly. The bunches have quadrupled in size and they are covered with blooms.
These pictures were from a few days ago so imagine how many more blooms there are now! We have these light purple ones, yellow and a smaller variety that are white with deep purple.
They are really huge! Especialy the light ones They must be some kind of giant breed. Look at how they compare to Tessa! They are up to my waist.
Friday was Ben's last day of preschool swimming lessons. I am going to miss the social aspect of hanging around and talking to the other parents while we drink coffee and "watch swimming". Milo is a popular guy at this weekly ritual and always gets held and played with and obsessed over by other little siblings.
In this photo Tessa was trying to guard him from another child looking at him. She was yelling "my baby brother!!" So charming.
Here is Ben swimming with a fun noodle and also a flotation cube on his back. So he can't exactly swim...But he always seems very happy in the water. Swimming lessons is a huge benefit of this damn expensive preschool.
On Friday afternoon I had the chance to drive around to rummage sales. Usually, when I'm on the hunt for kids stuff (which is always) I drive to the more family oriented developments but the first sales I found were within a few block of our house and at the first house I scored this Frozen dress, which was made by the lady by sewing a skirt on a t-shirt. It was $4.00.
That same house also had a few toys (I think they were selling for family members) and I got Ben this three piece trailer and pickup with a fishing boat with little chairs and an anchor.
He sent his lego police officers out for a day of fishing right away!
The next house had a bunch of girl clothes and baby toys which I didn't really need but on a hanging bar along the wall I discovered a bunch of store bought Halloween costumes! There was a parrot! A PARROT COSTUME! I have wanted to be a parrot myself for years but such a costume a lot of work to make and very expensive to buy. The same is true for kids. Thank you to that mom who bought a costume from Old Navy that is Tessa's size and sold it for $7 at a rummage sale!
Oh, I love this thing. I love parrots. I have one of those "hand crafted" ceramic ones from Mexico that sit on a ring that you can hang up hanging in our house. Actually, I have two! One is from way back in the 1990's when my aunt brought all of the kids one home from a trip to Puerto Vallarta. Another one is a big one that I chose myself at a market stall in Playa Del Carmen.
She asked it on all weekend. She would say, "Can I wear my parrot? Can you fly me around?" So cute. I was so proud. She even wore it to sleep last night and I had to peel it off her sleeping body.
On Saturday there was a "Touch the Truck" here. It is what it sounds like. A street was blocked off from traffic and several blocks were lined with parked trucks and machines like fire trucks, cranes, garbage trucks and anything else you could imagine. The port-a-potty truck was even there. It wasn't getting much attention. There was a food drive and, most baffling to me, there was a toy give-a-way. As in, every kid there got a new toy. There was no qualification. You just got in line and chose a number that was written on the bottom of a floating rubber duck and chose a toy off the table. Tessa chose this:
It is a giant art set with crayons, markers and paint. I had seen kids carrying them all over the place when we were walking through the commotion but I assumed they were for sale somewhere. The lady said, "I think that is too advanced for her.." when she chose it. I can tell you that it is not at all too advanced for her. She loves coloring. It must have been another case of someone thinking she is younger than she is based on her short hair. Ben got a miniature Star Wars ship with a little stand. Also, they gave away novelty construction helmets and every kid got a hot wheels car with their helmet. There were hundreds of kids there and the event was free except for the request for canned goods for the food drive. Very generous but also kind of a waste of resources!
Here is Ben up close to a large crane hook. His favorite stop was the police section. He got a sticker badge and when we got home he stuck it on his wall.
Tessa enjoyed the book mobile. This section actually is to advanced for her...
That afternoon we got down to business in the yard planting flowers. Milo wasn't fitting his nap into our schedule so we set the pack and pay up outside and he eventually fell asleep.
Here are the finished pots. And yes, it is way overboard and I realize I have a problem. I just love to choose flowers! I feel like I am adopting them by giving them a good home. I hope it turns out to be a good home and we don't have a repeat of the over-fertilization mass kill that happened two summers ago.
I can't wait to see how they fill out! I feel bad for our neighbor who waters for us when we go out of town...
My final productive thing I accomplished was rotating Milo's and Tessa's clothes. Tessa needed room for summer clothes in her drawer and there were still some 24 month shirts and pants in there so I cleaned those out and Milo needed a full transition from 6 to 9 month clothes. I have been rifling through the box of 9 month for several weeks now but I decided having a box in the hallway was getting old so I finally put it in the drawer. He is wearing Ben's old clothes in opposite seasons so there are some holes in his wardrobe but he is growing so fast I could probably skip ahead to the next size soon, especially for smaller running brands.
So that was fascinating, wasn't it?
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