Caleb is vising for the week. We are having LOTS of fun. My mom drove us down on Tuesday and we ate dinner together (Goat makes an amazing lasagna!), took a walk, got ice cream, and then she drove back. :( We tried to convince her to stay overnight, but since Josh decided to stay home rather than enduring the long car ride, she wanted to get back. Wednesday Caleb helped me make bread, we took another walk, did some gardening and had a Dr. Mario tournament. Fun! Thursday we took the bike and trailer, which carries both Landis and Caleb without a problem, to the park. Caleb had to use the gross park bathrooms. He was really upset that someone had written "women's bathroom" on the inside of the door in the men's bathroom. Caleb and I played Risk II and he beat me. Nooooooooo! Today, we are picking Aaron Scott up from school at 1 pm and we will have lots of fun with him. I will probably take all 3 boys to the park if the weather is nice to run off some energy. I do not want 3 overly energetic boys bouncing around my house! Caleb is attacking me with a glowing spoon from his cereal box, so I had better go...

Landis LOVES Gainesville. He likes being with his Benton Grandparents and especially the very fun Uncles. We picked up Paul and his friend Lee from the Miami airport Friday evening and arrived here early Saturday morning. Landis woke up when we arrived and was very excited to see Uncle Paul and Nonny but sad that the younger uncles were sleeping. He was so happy the next morning when he woke up and realized where he was.

Today, Caleb and I weeded the garden in the backyard and Caleb shoveled up some ornamental grasses that had found their way into the garden area. We replanted them along the border of the bed in the back of the yard. Josh and Paul went to Paynes Prairie with Paul's friends to try out the Masai clubs Paul brought back from Tanzania on the alligators and watch the sunset. Caleb, Landis and I had a great time wrestling together. Landis loves to wrestle with the uncles.

We will be returning to Melbourne with the 2 youngest uncles in tow on Tuesday!

Somebody I know is going on "ca-keen" restriction for the rest of his life. That is all.

Goat accidentally left a glass of tea on the dining room table earlier this evening, and Landis very quietly scooped it up and drank 3/4 of it. It's 11 pm and my very highly caffeinated boy is happily bouncing off the walls. Argh!! I have things to do tomorrow! I need to sleep! I'm off to try once again to coax him into unconsciousness. Even the all-powerful "nans" have failed me thus far. It's going to be a long night...

Garden update

We have watermelons! Tiny ones, golf ball sized and smaller. They are way too cute!

We're getting a handful of cherry tomatoes every day. The roma and beefsteak are not faring nearly as well. Something is eating the roma plant.

The green beans are almost ripe!

The squash are starting to flower.

I bought 2 more window boxes and planted marigolds in one and basil in the other. They have sprouted and seem to be growing well.

And, of course, Landis still loves spinach! It is almost gone, but he is enjoying it to the very end.

To Do List

Things that I need to get done before picking up Pav and Lee on Friday:
Get the house reasonably clean.

Get caught up on laundry.

Change sheets on all beds.

Put sheets on the futon.

Clean out the Honda.

Go grocery shopping.

Look into the summer family pass for the Sherwood pool.

Pack clothes for Landis and myself for 4 days in Gainesville.

Program the GPS to give me directions to the Miami Airport.



Fun times lie ahead...

Cute Landi Anecdotes of the Day

This morning, as we got in the car to go to Aerin and Tea's house, Landis saw his shoes and decided he wanted to wear them. "Shoes!" he said. I was busy buckling him into his car seat and couldn't put them on that instant, so he repeated his request. "Shoes!" I was finally done buckling him in and reached for the shoes. He nodded vigorously, waved his little toes around and said "Mommy, shoes feets!" Hey, a sentence! I obligingly put his shoes on his sweet little "feets" and we were off.

After lunch, Landi and I went outside to tend to the garden. He played on the porch in his little house for a minute, then spotted the stroller, pulled it out from the little nook where it resides, and ran up to me. "Mommy, ride!" It seemed like a good idea to me too - it's a beautiful day - so I ran inside, grabbed a water bottle, strapped him in, and off we went. We walked around the block a few times, and then did the longer loop around 1/2 of the neighborhood. Landis saw lots of "birdies" and a squirrel and some "doggies", and well as trees, flowers, and mangoes growing in a neighbors yard. We walked for about an hour, but it got to be too hot, and we were out of water so we headed home. I thought for sure he would be satisfied, but no sooner had I pulled him out of the stroller than he ran over to the bike trailer, hopped in and said again "Ride! Ride!" It never ends!