Misty day at the zoo

Mark and I met Megan, Drew and Kayley at the Omaha zoo yesterday.  Their aunts Kim and Jenny were also there along with cousins Macie, Noah and J. D.  The weather was far from perfect but they had a good time.  Kayley enjoyed the animals immensely but I think Drew was having more fun pushing the stroller and trying to keep us all away from getting too close to the windows of the apes and tigers!  (He is still a bit of a worry wort but that is his caring nature!) 

After the zoo the ladies all took their children home for a nap.  Mark and I drove to Kim's house around 4 P.M.  and took Drew and Kayley back to Matt's house to spend the night.  We took them to dinner at Dave and Buster's and of course had to play some skee-ball.  Drew loved that!  Had enough tickets to buy a tiny little car...total cost was $10.00.  :-)  Why was I never smart enough to open a place like that or smart enough to make a zillion Thomas the Train engines for a tidy profit?!?!?!? 

Movie from the zoo and Dave and Buster's"

Windy.....every single day!

I am getting a bit tired of the wind out here on the prairie!  I mow and I am covered with dirt and grass.  I try to water and the water blows every which way but on the plant that needs it.  But, it is still better than the killer tornadoes that seem to be popping up everywhere lately.  Very scary weather pattern right now!

Mark finished the beans this past week so all is good in cropland.  We received a little over an inch of rain so now everything has moisture.  Next on the list will be spraying the corn and beans.

We are going to spend the coming week-end with Matt in Omaha.  We are looking forward to seeing him.  Megan and family will also be in Omaha that week-end and we get to babysit Friday night so they can go out with Andy's brothers for the evening.  Friday afternoon we are going to the zoo.  They have the BEST zoo and we look forward to going with Drew and Kayley!

We had a very "close to dead" tree go partially down in the wind.  I have been wanting it down for several years so mother nature decided to help me out with that project.  Part did NOT go down so Mark took care of the rest of it.  Now, what to do with the huge trunk still there?!?!

A video of part of the tree coming down.  This is for Drew as he likes stuff like this.  :-)  Also, some stolen pictures of Kayley from Megan's Facebook page.

90's to 40's

Only in Iowa can you get that type of fluctuation of temps in less than a week!  The cool weather did bring some rain with it so it wasn't a total waste.  Our corn is "popping up in rows" and he should be able to plant the beans as soon as it dries a bit.  Mark held off on the beans because it was so dry.  He said the sweet corn should be ready August 1st.  Cannot wait!

I planted a bigger garden this year since I am home now to take care of it.  Lots of tomatoes and some green pepper, cabbage, eggplant, green beans, onion, zucchini and cucumbers.  I haven't planted that many items since I was in my 40's but with food prices getting higher I thought it a good time to do so!  Plus, I love fresh vegetables. 

I also put in several knock-out rose bushes in various spots and transplanted other perennials.  I also planted my usual bed of zinnias and canna bulbs by the driveway.  I keep threatening to do something different there but I just love the color that those produce.

This morning I stopped by to visit Jan and Clayton and ended up staying almost 3 hours!  Guess we had lots to catch up on after a half year apart!  It was so great to see them looking so happy and healthy!

Well, that catches me up on our routine of the past two weeks.  Andy did send me a video of Kayley "reading" to her baby which I thought was very cute.  Drew gets into the act, too, and I am not sure what language they are talking in but thought it worth sharing!  :-)

2200 miles

That is the total I have driven this past week.  Needless to say,  I am tired of sitting in a car and tired of buying very expensive gas!  I left Phoenix last Monday and spent the night in Dalhart, TX.  Tuesday I drove to Matt's home in Omaha to spend the night.  He took me out for a birthday dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and then we went for a drive looking at beautiful lake homes in the area.  We then watched the movie Hangover before calling it a night.  That movie was quite hilarious. 

Wednesday morning we went out for breakfast before I took off for the farm.  It was good to get back to the farm and Mark but the weather was really cold!  Matt said I came home a month too soon and I have to agree with him.  Hopefully it will begin a warming trend soon!

I was home Thursday and then Friday I decided it was time to hit the road again and I drove the 320 miles to Peoria, IL to see Drew and Kayley.  Megan had signed up for a March of Dimes walk in honor of Kayley so I couldn't miss that!  I had a fun week-end with my grandchildren and hated to leave them come Monday morning. 

Now I am back at the farm and waiting for it to become warm enough so I can start working in my gardens.  I am anxious to finally plant a big garden after a 4 year layoff!  I just need the weather to cooperate.  There were frost warnings last night so it isn't time to do so quite yet.

Some pictures and a short video of my Peoria week-end.

Andy "said" he was digging a garden plot but with his mother-in-law visiting I wondered exactly what he was digging!

Ah, thankfully it WAS a garden plot!  :-)

Having a snack at the park

Kayley thought it was fun up there!

Drew is old enough to know that this can't be safe!

March of Dimes walk on Sunday afternoon in Peoria