What a weekend! We stayed home this year (last year we met Peg, Joel & Evelyn in Philadelphia) and attended multiple barbeques with neighbors. At the party on Saturday, they had a pig roast! The kids had never seen anything like it. Instead of being horrified, they were fascinated - especially looking at it's eyes and teeth. People were walking up to it and grabbing hunks off to eat - it was delicious. Caroline announced that she wanted some pig, so I took a piece from a platter and handed it to her. She looked indignant and replied incredulously "This isn't pig!" It took some convincing that the bite of meat in her mouth came from the pig over the coals nearby.
Sunday, we had a more relaxing barbeque with neighbors on either side of us. The kids played in the sprinkler and at the watertable all day. It was ideal weather - hot in the sun, comfortable in the shade. John (our neighbor and host of the gathering) smoked some beef jerky, grilled pork shoulder, ribs, and chicken legs. I marinated London Broil and shish-ke-bobbed them and broiled some fresh green beans. Doug was the bartender keeping our glasses full with Pina Coladas and Watermelon Summer Situations.
On Monday, Nikki marched in the Springfield parade. She was so excited for days leading up to this - she kept asking if she'd be on TV. Sadly, no. She marched with her Brownie troop and they brought a wagon full of candy and handed it out. She was in her glory!!! After that, we went to the Turtle Back Zoo with our neighbors, John & Sherry and their kids Sarah and Julia. You'll hear alot about them - we seem to do everything with them since we're both transplants to NJ without family nearby. The weather was beautiful again and the day couldn't have been better. Now, on Tuesday, Doug is back to work, but the kids are home for one more day. Nikki goes back to school tomorrow. We need to work on her final social studies project today.
In garden news, my vegetable garden is doing okay. Doug put up a fence around it this weekend to keep the resident rabbit out of it. The bean seeds are barely making it. Only about 4-5 plants are poking through the soil at this point. Very disappointing. However, my Nasturtium flowers are coming up nicely. About 20 of those seeds have poked through! My tomatoes and broccoli have not been destroyed by critters yet, so all is good today... I also got some flowers planted behind the house in that awful semi-circle of weeds. On Mother's Day weekend, Peggy was here and helped clear out the weeds and she and Doug moved some of the lilies and hostas around. I planted begonias and impatiens along the edge. I have about 3 flats of flowers left to plant - Doug wants me to make more flower boxes for the front of the house. We'll see. OH! And today, my peonies are finally opening! It's very exciting! They are a beautiful pale pink.
Well, that's all I can think to write about now. I'm going to try to save some pictures to the blog - some from the parade, the zoo, and Nikki's Jack-o-lantern smile...
-Kim
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