Furry little b@#$%^&!!!

As some of you may know, a few weeks ago, Emily and I planted a bunch of lettuce, some arugula, broccoli, brussel sprouts and flowers. The pots sat on our back deck and looked really pretty-and we were all excited to be eating out of our little veggie garden during the summer. Well, the ground hog came. At first, it was just the lettuce, but then he ate everything else.

So fast forward a few weeks, and Mike and I decided we would outsmart Mr. Punxsutawney Phil and put a big wire cage around it. And here's how well it worked.


Luckily our wonderful neighbors, Mike and Jess, came by to try to help us out. The plan was to try to tip the whiskey barrel into a trash can, that Mike would then take to the other side of the river (aka, Roxborough) where Phil could eat other people's veggies.




After a valiant fight, the furry rascal ran away. He won this battle, but certainly, we'll be smarter next time...we hope.

Our Pergola!

Mike had a few days off before he started his new job, so I decided to put him to work. And in THREE DAYS, he built us an amazing new pergola!

Time in the Garden

The weather has been absolutely beautiful the past few days, so we've been working in the garden while Mike is building our pergola. Both boys are really enjoying it.

Oliver's New Bed!

Mike is taking this week off before he starts his new job, and our plan was to build a pergola on our deck. Sadly it's been raining all week, so our plans are on hold until tomorrow. So today, for entertainment, we went to Ikea. I know, talk about excitement, Ikea! Oliver got really excited climbing on this bunk bed, and we were going to do it eventually, so we went for it.

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And so far (37 minutes in) he's sound asleep.

Kiernan Meets Cauliflower---and Wins?

So this evening I made cauliflower "mashed potatoes" for dinner. They were insanely good. Since we're having Kiernan feed himself all of his own solids, I figured this would be a fun one for him to try. In the end, it was an incredible mess, but a complete success.

Florida-Day 3, Hanging Loose

On our last day in Florida, we decided to hang out. We visited Oliver's favorite train-although his buddies from Long Island weren't with him this time.

Then Oliver ran through this fountain for about 20 minutes. He was a bit wet by the end, but it was really funny.

And finally we went to hang out at the pool. This pool was perfect. It had gradual entrance in the kids area (starting at zero inches and going up to about 2 feet) and there were lots of things that splashed and sprayed water (exactly what a 2 year old wants). Basically Oliver ran around in the pool, Kiernan chewed on whatever he could (man is he teething!) and Mike and I drank Pina Coladas. Not a bad way to spend a day!

Florida-Day 2, The Boat

We got to visit Lolo and Lola and Titos Jason and Jebby, on their boat. It was about the coolest playground Oliver has ever seen. Jebby was nice enough to hold Oliver's hand as they walked down the dock.

And Jason showed Oliver what living aboard is all about.

Of course, the highlight of the trip was Oliver catching Moby Dick...or his little, little, little brother.

Florida-Day 2, The Beach

After our breakfast, we went to Cocoa Beach (home of Ron Jon Surf Shop). There were about 10,000 other people, most of whom were drinking lots of beer and wearing tiny bathing suits (gotta love spring break). Oliver had a great time digging in the sand, and Kiernan had a great time eating said sand. We're still seeing the results of that adventure in Mr. Kiernan's diapers.

Here's Oliver posing with Tito Jason (behind the boogie board) and Tito Jebby.

Florida-Day 2, Character Breakfast

In our hotel we were able to do a Disney Character Breakfast. This means that you pay $20 for cold pancakes, but you get to eat with Pluto and Goofey. Both Oliver and Kiernan thought it was the most amazing thing EVER----Oliver is still talking about sharing a waffle with Goofey (according to him, Goofey uses lots of syrup)!

Florida-Day 1

Our first day in Florida it was super windy, so we decided to go to Epcot since it wasn't pool weather anyway. Here are Oliver and Mike inside Bruce at the Finding Nemo ride. And Oliver applying his own sunscreen---a bit thick, but at least he covered his whole face!

We had lunch in "Germany" by a great fountain we could hardly keep Kiernan out of.

And the amazing thing about our Epcot adventure is that we got there so early, we were done by about 2---and we never had to wait in line! Oliver decided to nap while we waited for the bus back to our hotel.