Acrobatics

 We are getting ready to paint the inside of the house... I know only 5 years after we moved in.  It was suppose to have been done before we moved in but... let's just say the people who were suppose to have painted it ... we had had enough of them.  So this is the sight from my couch and of course the kids aren't suppose to climb on it.

 However, because I'm a nice mom... (I am! Really! Just don't ask the kids...)... I let them play on the bottom bar of the scaffolding.

 Don't mind the oddly placed cabinet in the background, that isn't going to stay there, it just doesn't have a home yet.

This is so not funny.  I opened up my lap top and this is what I saw. No kidding.  I gasp for air for a bit and asked what on earth that thing was.
Sam:  I thought you would like to see a cicada. I found it dead on the road.
Me:  Oh
My actual thought:  Oh so you store it in my lap top?!!  That is so gross, I wouldn't mind seeing it from across the room but oh, ugh, this is so gross!

The thing was huge! Shivver.

Oddities

 I think my girls need to go to fashion school.... I think they'd teach them something.

Hey Mommy!  I got a golden ticket!

Just a Typical Day

 I believe there were at least a dozen pictures on the camera of Marigold.  Apparently there was a photo shoot.

 Tell me the crossed legs isn't adorable!

 I wish I could say Poppy was pretending to be a seal... but truly the terrific twos begin long before 2!

 Challenged, just purely challenged. I tried to find out what happened (note the rope intertwined in the bike) but since nobody did it, nobody knew anything.

 Just out for an evening walk after an evening bike ride. Legs that feel like jello are just part of my new lifestyle.  The Ergo Baby Carrier with the infant insert was the best investment.

 The clouds were so neat, it was like one big cloud that had exploded into a gazillion little cloud pieces.

 Aragorn on his bike. 

 Down at the patch the punkins are growing. Of course they are already bigger than any normal family's jack-o-lantern but we aren't normal.

 This is the irrigation snake... or that's what I call it.  I suppose the men here abouts would call it a hose or something uninteresting.

 The world record giant pumpkin is 1810 pounds

 The world record giant green squash is "only" 1200 pounds. 

 Bike congregation

Awwww..............

Testing Long Gourd

Someone kindly explain this to me.  One of the banes of my existence... if one is allowed more than one... is rotating pictures.  If I take a picture "sideways" and try rotating it, it always comes out sideways.  So I am experimenting here and I would like some computer guru to give me an explanation.

I took this picture SIDEWAYS so Sam's head was to the right.

 NOT ROTATED... explain that one!

 Rotated once to the left

 rotated twice left

 rotated thrice left

 rotated fource left

rotated fivece left

Praytell! Do tell!  Incidentallly this is a baby long gourd. I had to make a house rule that these were explicitly NOT to be left lying around the house. They look uncannily like snakes.

2 Months Old

 Marigold is now 2 months old. Where does the time go?!

 Black caps were in season.

 Rumor had it that the cat had kittens but the kittens have yet to be found again.

 Pippin

 Poppy has this thing for her red shoes, here she is trying to put them on Marigold.  At least she was sharing.

 Caterpillar on the tomato plant from Oomploompaland.

 Life is rough.

 We just got back from picking up 60+ chicks. The children were already coming up with names. The black one was Pepper, one was Salt, there was also Ketchup.  It's hard to imagine eating these chicks into their future but c'est la vie.

Galadriel's Bike Trip and the Reality of Bike Riding.

Real life

*vs*

Reality

 Galadriel when on a bike trip with some of her friends.
*
This gave me the brilliant idea to want to get bikes for Aragorn and me.  Can't you just envision a family of 13 riding down along the bike lane?  Not that any heads would turn or anything... Anyway, when we couldn't find a portable air conditioner to get us through this heat wave, Aragorn decided we'd get 2 bikes instead.  Hey, there was a rebate for $30 each so they cost $69, and compared to $690, I thought this was a great deal.

 This is the lovely trail Galariel went on... and she wants everyone to know that she arrived back first :)
*
So today, Aragorn and I decided to try out the bikes. It was only 92 degrees with a heat index over 100.  I think it's been some 16 years since I last rode a bike but my bike-riding memories are fond ones, I used to ride up to soccer practice some 6-1/2 miles on a hilly road every day....

 The bike trail went through 3 tunnels. I think I heard that this used to be a train track that went out of use and was converted into a bike trail.
*
As we tried to get on our bikes here on the giant mountain we live on we first discovered that Sam had put the front tires were put on backwards.... I never knew a bike could be put together dyslexickly.... But this break was alright, I needed a break after the first 20 feet of riding.... downhill.

 A good friend of my girls also went on the bike trip.
*
So after Aragorn fixed the wheel/handlebars (you don't want your handlebars backwards....) we got started.  My first thought, that I foolishly expressed out loud, was that there isn't enough padding on the seat.  And thankfully from the side of the mountain we live on to the pumpkin patch is all down hill.

 These lovely ladies make bike riding look so easy, comfortable, and that women don't sweat they "glow".
*
When I got off the bike at the pumpkin patch I felt a little wobbly but I was alright and made it... please don't case it up on me that I had only gone down hill.  I did pedal ... some.

 Nick with the trailer load of bikes.  He so graciously grilled a lunch and was the servant to all.
*
I decided to head right back up to the house... to the stop sign was a small hill (must be one of the foothills of the giant mountain we live on).  Given the size of this hill I decided I had better walk my bike a while and save energy to make it up the mountainous region.

 See, now Kay was smiling on the trip. I figured biking riding must be a joyful experience.
*
Pushing a bike up hill isn't quite as joyous but I made it to a level area where I could start pedaling again.... until I got to the mountain when I had to walk again.   

 The trailer-load of  bikes
*
I began to re-think this idea of the Biking Family and the cute little baby/toddler bike trailer I was going to pull behind my bike.  I think it would be nice behind Aragorn's bike... or Galadriel's bike....

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
*
This part of the bike trip I could really relate to as I did the same thing when I got home, made a bee-line for the couch.

Aragorn had to water the pumpkins before he got back. When he got back he said he had made it all the way up the mountain to the driveway.  I'm sure it's because he's taller than I.  But he looked a little sore so I assured him I was sure it was the bikes, that if we had bought the $690 bike instead it would have been a breeze.  I'm sure it was the bikes... aren't you?  Thank you, I knew you'd see it my way.  At this point Galadriel came in and said if I thought that was a big hill I should try black hill road.  Isn't she funny?

I am still sitting on the couch and my fear is that my body will not straighten up... ever.