A fun fourth with Finley

 

For the forth of July we had big plans for a family day at the pool. Unfortunately poor Jackson was sick all weekend! His only symptom was a high fever but it definitely had us on edge!

Luckily no one else got sick - not even Hunter!

Since we had been laying low all weekend, Finley and I went to the festivities at our neighborhood pool so that we could get out of the house!

They had a cookout lunch special and then Finley participated in the coin dive.

He came up with more treasures and jewels than actual coins much to his disappointment lol. 

Right before the soda dive began his friend Finn showed up. 

They had a strategy for the soda dive...one would jump in, dive down collect the sodas and then throw them to the other person waiting on the side of the pool. It worked pretty well!

They also enjoyed some ping pong.

And of course I had to destroy Finley in foosball just to show him how good I am.

Later that night we grilled out and were able to enjoy a picnic dinner on the deck.

While we didn't go and see the fireworks anywhere...we were lucky enough to have some neighbors shooting some off nearby!

But the next day Jackson was feeling much better and back to himself. We made the best of the holiday that we could! Happy 4th of July!

NC Zoo

We finally made another trip to the NC Zoo! I am really not sure why we ever go during the summer. It was ridiculously hot! 

We got to watch an elephant try to cool himself off which was fun. 

The elephants might be my favorite animal.

The boys were more fascinated with the statutes than with the animals.

This photo cracks me up. Hunter looking super cute and Jackson looking so tired even though we had only just started our day.

The NC zoo is so big we usually only do half of it at a time. That means we get to see elephants, monkeys, and lions!

We almost opted out of the aviary...but glad we didn't! Hunter enjoyed talking to this very vocal bird.

They had a special butterfly house exhibit that we were able to visit. The boys loved getting to see the butterflies up close but I was terrified they might hurt or kill one! They aren't exactly soft with things!

The big beautiful blue and black ones were everyone's favorites!

Once the boys found the carousel we knew we had to ride it! It seemed so small and old compared to the big beautiful one at the Greensboro Science Center. 

But they still had fun! 

It was a hot and tiring day at the zoo but the boys enjoyed getting to see the animals! In the future we will stick with going in the fall or spring!

 

How does your garden grow?

With a larger yard comes bigger gardening opportunities!

One of my friends in the neighborhood has the most beautiful flowers. She gives me seeds to plant but I am really bad about watering plants. Luckily these Zinnias that I planted from seeds made it and finally bloomed.

 

So far I have two that have blossomed and more are coming up!

The rose bushes and Canna Lilies came back and are gorgeous!

 

 

David made a planter's box in the fall and we planted a zucchini and squash plant there this spring.

 

They have done amazingly well! We have gotten so many squash and some really huge ones too! We've been sharing with all of our friends and neighbors since we have way more than we can eat!

 

If only the kids liked and ate zucchini and squash!

I tried to bake some healthy zucchini muffins but they didn't go over very well. Hunter found the zucchini in the muffins and told me they were dirty and to take it out! Lol

 

Maybe I will try some zucchini bread next!

 

David also planted several blueberry, raspberry, and blackberry bushes. We only got a few blueberries and blackberries so far, but the raspberries produced a decent amount. 

We think it will take another year or so before they really put out a bunch of fruit. 

In the meantime...let there be squash!