"During"

This was a couple weeks ago, but I wanted to leave a bit of space between the "before" and "during" posts. Of course, it is still not done, but much better. "After" coming soon!

You can see some of the plants now! Still lots of work, but at least they can see the light somewhat!

A lot of the garden plants are very tiny, but you can see the beans in these photos.

My "crew." They did a great job while they were focused on the weeds.

See the weed piles at the front of the photo?

Hippo Sauce

Savannah likes to say "Wheeeeeeee" and raise her arms up (like on a roller coaster) whenever we are traveling up a hill or around a corner. Last weekend she was doing both through an underpass.

Suddenly she said "Hippo sauce". " Hippo sauce is too dangerous for you Mummy!" "Hippo sauce is too dangerous for Daddies."

I asked her, "What is hippo sauce?" "Hippo sauce is not for Mummies and Daddies."

Me: "Who is hippos sauce for? Kids?"

S: "Just for me."

I guess it shall remain a mystery.........

"Before!"

Yes, there is really a garden in there. The stakes are where the pea rows are!

Can you see the potato plant? The rest is Lamb's Quarters.

The lines are where we planted the rows. Guess it slowed down the weeds! :D

I pulled out weeds to the right of the peas and the left of the next row. Savannah pulled out all the weeds in between where I pulled. She is now a professional weed puller! As long as I show her what is a weed and what's not.

I LOVE my Flowerbeds...

and so does Savannah. A selection of a few flowers so far this year.

Savannah was super proud to show everyone that came over our Bleeding Hearts this year. She would also point them out at everyone else's houses on the street. Today (July 11th) she was very distraught to see that they are all finished in one spot for the year.

For Auntie Jillian

For those of you who don't know, Auntie Jillian is a bird biologist. She spends all the time she can banding and studying different species of birds.

At the zoo, we came across this nice lady, sitting all by herself with several bird feet/legs. There were Cassowary, Eagle, Goose, Great Horned Owl, Burrowing Owl, and two others I can't remember.

These are the Great Horned Owl and Burrowing Owl

See?

My favorite new fun fact we learned is that Geese have a valve in their leg that they can use to shut off the blood flow to their feet. It helps them not to feel cold when standing on ice and snow in the winter. Their foot is mostly cartilage so they don't have to worry about frostbite like we do. They turn the blood flow back on when they need it again.

We're going to the Zoo, zoo, zoo. How about you, you, you. You can come too, too, too. We're going to the Zoo, zoo, zoo.

The Cutest Exhibit at the Zoo!

This is one of the dinosaurs that she thinks is going to protect her!!!!

We saw a "map" with giraffes on it and that's where she wanted to go next. They are her favorite because of the baby one.

Ice cream, another favorite! This was a cute statue. Glad she posed for a photo here.

Ground Orchid

We call these "Kevin" from the movie "Up!" Kevin is always looking for his girlfriend. There are a lot at the zoo.

We've never seen this before as there is a playground that we always get stuck at. Nice idea someone had for photos. Yes, she got her ice cream too.

Dat da Da and a Poppin' Good Time!

Come see what I made Mum! Dat da DA!!!!

(That's how she says Ta Dah!)

When we went to the zoo on Friday, Savannah and I found this popping corn. Looked like fun!

Ready to be popped. The kernels that fell off, I just put in the microwave. I have no idea if they popped or not.

I couldn't take photos of the actual popping process, but if you ever find one of these I highly recommend doing it yourself!!! The kernels pop mostly on the side touching the bottom of the microwave. So everytime a kernel pops the cob JUMPS wildly into the air. Some of the popped kernels stay attached to the cob for a bit and then fly off later. Sometimes they shoot unpopped kernels off the cob. They sounded like bullets hitting the side of the microwave!

Be careful opening the door! Only a couple kernels fell out.

"That's lots of popcorn," says Savannah. MMMMmmmm, delicious.