After a few years of not being able to get a successful garden in, we’re finally back in business! The picture you see is Kate holding the first cucumber we have been able to grow in over 5 years! Pretty exciting stuff. We cleared out an area near the deck, added some better soil, and now the garden has gone crazy! We’ve got 10 tomato plants (4 varieties), basil, rosemary, oregano, 3 pepper plants, and the cucumbers. Some of the tomato plants are so big that they have outgrown the 54” tomato cages, and are tied up to the deck to keep them standing! It’s a little more than we actually had space for, but it is fun to have some success.
July 19, 2008
July 17, 2008
Visit to the Bronx Zoo
While the boys were in Utah visiting family this summer, we thought that we would take a trip down to the Bronx and visit the zoo. The Bronx Zoo sits right in the middle of a bunch of apartments and roads, and once you’re in the zoo, you’d be hard pressed to know that you’re in the middle of the Bronx. There were a lot of things to see and do at the zoo – we visited everything we could! We got to ride on a monorail, and a carousel with bugs instead of horses. Everyone had a good time, including Kate. She was most excited to see the monkeys, but loved all the animals.
We’ve even got some pictures of our trip. Click here to see the photo set.
July 8, 2008
Yay! No more ponytails!
Stephanie finally went and did it! After much nagging, she took the plunge and got her hair cut! What was almost certain to be a traumatic experience was snatched from the jaws of defeat and lo and behold, she got a good haircut. Much relief on the part of everyone here.
You may ask, why is this such a big deal? Why all of the melodrama? Let’s say we have learned the consequences of bad haircuts for Stephanie through some other experiences. Not good. It has taken Stephanie a year to find someone she would trust with her hair. I think she was tired of ponytails and having her headbands made fun of.
Yes, we’re all much happier with the new look, Stephanie included. She liked it so much, she even made an appointment in 8 weeks to get a tune-up or whatever it is women do every so often at the hair salon.
July 4, 2008
Fourth of July
Happy Fourth of July! Here’s a picture of the fireworks we saw over in Cornwall.
The kids had a fun day – we drove over to Cornwall in the early afternoon to see what they had going on. There were some stalls set up selling cheesy stuff as well as carnival food (you know, fried dough, hot dogs, kettle corn, that kind of thing). Not real exciting, and the weather wasn’t too hot. So we took off and went to see some history.
First we drove up to Knox’s Headquarters in New Windsor. Generals Knox and Greene both were camped here from 1779-1782 during the Revolutionary War. We saw actual stuff from that time period and a tour of the house, quite a bit of which was original. We also got to see a period mortar being fired. Pretty cool.
Next stop was the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor and the New Windsor Cantonment (also in New Windsor, curiously enough). The New Windsor Cantonment is where big parts of the Continental Army were garrisoned during the Revolutionary War, from about 1779 until the end of the war. This is where George Washington gave his speech to the troops to stop the Newburgh Conspiracy. They had a lot of stuff to see, from a blacksmith to old toys to a large display of Revolutionary War cannons, including many captured from the British. It was fun to see history that we have read about. The Purple Heart Hall of Honor is pretty new, just opened last year. It gives a lot of information about the history behind the Purple Heart (including a real one given out by George Washington himself). Pretty amazing stuff.
Then we went home to grill up some hamburgers and eat watermelon and stuff, just in keeping with normal 4th of July celebrations.
Our last trip out included a stop at Weir’s for ice cream and then lastly, to the fireworks. It was a good show for a little town like Cornwall. Sarah and Allie liked it a lot, but Kate was not as excited. She buried her head in Steph’s chest and wouldn’t even look at them – but she didn’t cry. I guess she didn’t remember last year. The best part was we found a way to avoid the crowds and were home in 15 minutes!
All in all, a good 4th of July. The girls liked it and will certainly remember it for years to come. Oh yeah, and it didn’t rain.
We will post more photos of the fireworks up on our Flickr page! Click here to visit the photos.
