Garden of Eating....

Now is the blissful time of year when we gardeners are rewarded in spades for our efforts earlier in the seasons. When our children gobble round red tomatoes as if they were Halloween candy hordes... and really, aren't they nearly as sweet? A few weeks ago, I had to cajole Carter to get him to come to the garden with me. Now, once out the door, he makes a beeline for our planting space, singing out "strawberries" and "tomatoes". He can identify "garlic" "onions" and "peppers". Should he ever have to grow his own food, I'm giving him a great early education.

... and if Carter could only grow Jelly Toast, we'd be all set. Actually "Toast... Cream Cheese... Jelly" is the official order of the day. After breakfast, we head straight to the bathroom for a good scrubbing. He loves to watch in the mirror as I scrub a dub his face to remove all the sticky residue. I smush his cheeks into funny shapes and he just smiles away.

Arden, you are so lucky to have Carter as an older brother. He's all kindness and kisses. We've seen some kids at the playground who don't get along so well with their siblings.

Arden looking happy and alert. Happy is not what she's been with her napping today... because she just learned to roll over from her belly to her back. She's been going to sleep on her belly, waking up when she rolls over and howling with frustration when she can't figure out how to get back to where she began.

But in general she's still a pretty happy sort. Lots of smiles for belly raspberries and daddy tickles. I've even got a few giggles.

What a respectable young gentleman.

Come here! I'm going to lick you in the face!

I went in to get Carter up from a nap the other day and he came over to me while I was sitting on the floor getting a diaper ready. I thought he was going to kiss me on the cheek, but instead he stuck out his tounge and licked my cheek very deliberately. "Carter! Did you just lick me?" I chortled. So, of course, he did it again.

Greg and Deann, proud grandparents (aka Papa and Mimi) stopped by this weekend to participate in the bounty and to visit us and the lil' ones. Okay, mostly the lil' ones and a little bit us.

They're into thoroughbred horse racing (they have quite a few horses now) and it was different having the laptops tapping into racetrack feeds all day Sunday. One of Deann's horses is named Ready's Rocket and it has the modern-day record for number of races one at Churchill Downs.... I got to watch him extend his record live, it was quite a thrill and I didn't even have any skin in the game.
My in-laws have never been quite so happy with me as they were this weekend at the dinner table. It was as if I was on Iron Chef and the secret ingredient was tomatoes. Well, okay, I took a half day to do it instead of just an hour. Fried Green Tomatoes, a platter of sliced tomatoes with fresh basil, balsamic and homemade mozzarella cheese, and Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato Sauce and homemade Meatballs.

The harvest continues at breakneck pace. I have 4 trays of tomatoes ripening on top of my freezer, and I just pulled up a wheelbarrow full of onions this evening, with more needing to come out in the next couple of days. Whew!

Summertime

Summer is in full swing now and I just can't catch my breath most days. Here's Carter at the splash pool in the next neighborhood over. We're not members but his friend Mira gets him in with her guest pass. He likes to splash around in the various little fountains but lately he's been copying the adults and getting into a chair to relax and socialize.

Well, I can't say where or when this picture was taken but I'll bet Cierra took it and Arden was looking at Carter. She just lights up when she can watch her big brother doing things. And Carter really loves it when she makes her little communication noises. He laughs hysterically and then tries to repeat it back to her.

The garden is in full production right now. Peppers are starting to come in, and the tomatoes are at it in earnest. I've been giving away tomatoes left and right. Our biggest so far this year was 1lb, 6 oz. It was ripe enough today that I figured we'd better get to eating, so Cierra and I took some hearty slices off it to make some fantastic BLTs for lunch. We still had half of it left, so I carved that up, threw on some cheese and balsalmic and had that for dinner. Our garlic is all dug for this year, hung and drying in the barn. Onions are bulbing up nicely, and the watermelon is just beginning to set fruit.

I'm looking forward to my first market day of the year in early July. I'd be there more often, but it's rare that Cierra is off on a market day!

Sandwiches, sandwiches.... Carter likes bread. Toast for breakfast, Sandwiches for lunch, and sometimes toast for dinner. Peanut butter and jelly is a favorite....

And he likes to eat them all by himself.

Whoa, big brother. You'd better go clean your face before you give me any more kisses.

Cierra taking a moment to help Arden learn to fly. Cierra's got so much going on, but she is great about leaving work outside the house so she can spend time with them when she gets home. And that gives me a little breathing room most evenings.

Reality check: Arden is 3 months old now. Can you believe it? I can't. Time is flying.

Well that's all the pictures and I don't have any amazing stories springing to mind so I'm going to get some pre-Father's Day rest. Good night all!