Lately

We continue to be busy and I have had very little time to spend on the computer, which is actually quite wonderful. We've had a string of gorgeous days, and we've been out as much as possible.

We stopped to smell the lilacs, of course.



We also stopped for ice cream trucks.



We've spent many afternoons in the garden. I planted some more perennials to fill in some areas where I had some "holes." I love to see what's happening in it each day, the new flowers that are starting to bloom, all the green poking up and stretching out to fill in more and more every day.



The boys are really excited about the garden, and last week we also planted a bunch of seeds: carrots, radishes, lettuce, chard and sunflowers. And then they planted themselves.



We also put in some herb seedlings, and I would like to put our tomatoes in as soon as possible. I was debating if I should buy them or not from Gethsemane (where I got all the other stuff). I know my dad has a lot of tomato seedlings, and I could get some from him when we visit him in late May/early June. I think we'd still have time if I wait until then, and they'll have a head start since they'll be coming from Tennessee, where it's a bit warmer.

Grandma and Grandpa have gotten even more chicks, and the boys are very keen to visit them. They're getting some more baby chicks at the end of May, So we're planning to head down there for several days. We also want to see Noah and Owen, who will be 5 next week.

Max has been very interested in letters and starting to try to read, which has been pretty fun. Our local Starbucks has these big foam letters, and Max spent a sunny afternoon there, trying out different combinations to spell words, even if they are how he thinks they should be spelled, rather than how they are widely agreed upon as spelled. This is "block."



More letters in the sand.



Max made this nutritious breakfast plate for Otto one morning.



Max continues to love cardinals, and we've been learning more and more about all other sorts of birds. His parrot fascination continues as well.



On Mother's Day, we went to Lula Cafe for brunch. It was, as always, totally delicious. And, as it was such a sunny and beautiful day, we didn't even mind our 45 minute wait. We played and read at the Logan Square monument.



Once we finally got to Lula, Max was more interested in his drawing than his French Toast.


Otto preferred the bacon.



We spent the afternoon going through all our camping supplies, in preparation for our camping trip to the Indiana Dunes, for the BioBlitz. We set up both tents, and although we love our Mountain Gear tent, we realized we had to take the Coleman tent in order to fit us all in. We also looked at all the bags, mats, pillows, cooking gear.



While we were looking, a small black and white cat wandered into the garden. She had a tag that had the Animal Shelter information on it, and when we called, they asked us to bring her in. So we had a little adventure, trying to coax her into a box and driving—she absolutely hated being in the car and made strange noises and clawed at her box (and at Martin, who was holding her). We looked around the shelter while we were there, and the boys preferred the cats, who were much more quiet than all the dogs, whose barking made them very jumpy.





Max has written another "Adventures of Captain Kitty Cat" comic book, and he continues to have fun with his toy Captain Kitty Cat.




The last few days have been absolutely gorgeous, and we've been out in the back yard, at the park, walking around the 'hood.

We are still recovering from our camping trip last weekend at the Indiana Dunes, where we camped in a thunderstorm, our tent leaked on us, Max and Otto both had colds, Max only slept about 3 hours one of the nights, and somehow we all still managed to have fun. I've still got to get some of those photos up, but that will have to be on another day, because it's another gorgeous day here, and we don't want to spend it inside.