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We've been getting a lot of books made around here, but while they are frequently started, they rarely seem to get finished. The title page is always rocking - the title just sucks you right into the story, and the credit to the author is always there. But then you begin and the story...well...it's just not all that great.

"The Story of the Very Strange Day" "By E"

"It was a strange day. The baby had dimples. The end."

or

"The Baby Who Could Jump"

"It was strange that the baby could jump. The baby had eyelashes."

or this one below:

"This book belongs to (me! how exciting), by E"

"The Baby Who Could Jump"

"One day the baby jumped."

I try to get excited, I really do. But seriously. We really need to work on the plot around here. A little character development wouldn't hurt either.

Another book in the "Baby" series

Ink pen on paper

E, 4.5 years

27 May 2008

wednesday morning in the garden

Our Wednesday morning walk in the garden was a chilly one this week. On Wednesdays the garden opens early for walkers, and the grounds are always a buzz of activity. There are only a few walkers spread out over the whole campus, but the staff is all there and busy with the tasks of the day. I love Wednesdays because you see the garden at work...Saturdays it's just visitors and weddings. The rose gardens were full of people tending to their every need, the peonies had given their best efforts and were exhausted and drooping from the effort. The iris gardens were once again full of early morning photographers and their tripods and we bypassed them in search of a few hidden haunts. We found a series of stones we never knew were there (a stone unturned?) and E hopped on and became her own statue. And then we marvelled at how the gray morning light seemed to illuminate some of the plants in these hidden places. We'll be back Saturday, between the rain showers, but it will be different. On Saturdays we have to share...on Wednesdays it's just for the two of us.

the fancy wedding party

she most certainly got her groove on...

E's first "fancy wedding party" was a great success. And by great success we mean lots of wedding cake and cookies, and plenty of time on the dance floor with her buddy M. The reception was held at the zoo, so the kids received rhinos dressed in bow ties to take home. Giant squid and great whites and sting rays floated above our heads as we dined and danced into the night. "The dance" was what she declared as her most favorite part of the evening. Her second favorite? "My photo with the bride."

We'll certainly miss our house guests - hope they come back soon!

holiday weekend

In between wedding showers and events we've managed to have quite a bit of down time this long weekend. We kicked the weekend off with s'mores, and then added quite a bit of color to the lush greens of our garden. Things are looking so nice out there, we might actually be tempted to get on with those outdoor plans - new fences, new planting, a garage?? Who knows. I'm sure we'll change our tune when the mercury tops the 100 mark. It won't be long...

E chose all the annuals for the garden color...every color of the rainbow. I think they look lovely. She particularly enjoyed the dirt.

...and a new home for the birds, thanks to a great Christmas gift from the s'more buddies...

at the zoo

E's best camping mate came into town for the weekend. These are some shots from this afternoon at the zoo.

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Green Eggs and Ham
e, 4.5 years
19 May 2008
watercolor on paper

I asked her about this painting when I picked her up one day instead of her dad. She told me they read Green Eggs and Ham and then they painted with green. This was her version of it. I commented on how nice the extra colors were in the painting - I thought it was much more interesting than if she had just used green. Her reply back to me was "I did just paint green, but when things are just green, they are still really a lot of other colors too at the same time."

Good girl.

this week's garden

I hope you've been enjoying the pictures from Boston... I've been enjoying the new scheduling option for posts on this blog. It's allowed me to space out the photos through the week and catch up on some things around here. It is a little strange to put together posts and have them appear later, and I don't think I'll do it much more, but it is nice to have the feature when you're going out of town. Kind of like leaving the living room lights on when you're on vacation and having your neighbors pick up the newspapers off your lawn. But we are back, and we are enjoying this weather and this garden which shed its tulips while we were away and has settled comfortably into its irises and peonies. Spring marches forward. And the best kind of spring morning is one spent walking through the woodland garden smack dab in the middle of the city but miles away from any sign of it. (Woodland garden photos by E, who just had to get a picture of that light on the tree trunks.)