OK, here's some promised pictures

Here it is!!! The bathroom.... only happy comments please... cuz I LOVE it!

Here's my tomatoes. Yah, I know they're small still but that's okay. I got them from Opa. I guess they are heirloom tomatoes but I don't know what kind. It'll be interesting to see what they grow into.

Look at my sad brocolli. I don't know why that one plant is so much worse than the others. I like the sage in front though.

Here's a pic of mom enjoying the summer. This is what she's always saying she wants to do: sit on the deck and read. The petunias in front are from the magic planter. Mom never plants anything in it yet every year there is this gorgeous full display of petunias.

I need to unpack my poop calendar

Yikes!! I should not have packed that thing away. We moved here in May (right?). Since then I'm sure I've missed at least 6 occasions when I should have sent a card, made a call, or at least written an email. I missed my best friends birthday (although that was before the move) and we haven't talked since (oops), I missed my sisters 29th birthday (and haven't brought it up or even appologized), I didn't miss Frank and Alisha's (phew... I was there, right?), I missed my own parents 30th anniversary (!!!!), and today is my Opa's birthday. Not that I remembered on my own... mom called and told me this morning. The thing is, I haven't even really forgotten all these events. I thought about Amy's birthday about 10 times that day. I just forget to make the call or write the email. Today, I'm going to write an email to my Gramps and call, just in case. And I'm sorry about all those other missed calls. These are things that could be important to some people.... And I'm not just saying this all because my birthday is on Tuesday (nice drop there, eh?).

Painting

You know that feeling when you're standing in front of the paint chips section? You know, those bright beautiful paint chips stick out and there's pictures of already-finished model rooms that debbie travis designed and you think... "i could do that! I wish that I was gutsy enough to just step up and do it. no.. nahh.... I'll get the tan". Well, Larissa and I stopped after the first thought. We bought the paint, came home, painted... and ... well... It'll sure wake you up in the morning!
Pictures to follow.... unless we go back and triple coat the tan before anyone sees it.

oh man, I did it again

If there's still a party happening, I can't seem to leave. This weekend has really been a good time for me. Yesterday we woke up late-ish and had another wonderful breakfast that couldn't be beat (frittata's with our own chickens eggs). We headed over to the park and spent the rest of the day there. I don't know where 13 hours goes when you're hanging around a festival but I doesn't seem to take long. One of the musicians, Rueben DeGroet, who is a friend of Sarah and Pete's came first thing in the morning and we all hung out all day. It rained pretty hard for a while but the rain couldn't shut the festival down. Oma and Gramps came out for a while. Opa took off on his scooter for a while just to check things out on his own. I love that scooter. I saw lots of old childhood friends walking through with their strollers and kids. I did listen to lots of music but I probably spent more time in the beer tent. There were plenty hearts being poured out in the beer tent. :) When then night closed down I had just started dancing so I really didn't want it to be over yet.... so it wasn't. I went to the first after-party party with Peter and Rueben. All the musicians had gathered at a local restaurant/pub for a few drinks. Rueben really wanted to jam but since it was all talk there and no music we took him home to my parents place. Neighbor Dan had a jam session in his gigantic garage so we walked over there with Rueben's guitar and danced the rest of the night away. Dan and his band are old rockers so Rueben jumped in with them but eventually started doing his own songs and leading the guys. It was a night of no pretentions and nothing to prove. The crappy singers sang into the mike and the just learning drummers had a go at a few songs.... and I got to dance as much as I wanted whether I was by myself or not. Peter (what a good brother-in-law) spun me around the dance floor more times than I can remember and tried to teach me how to move these awkward giraffe legs to move to the two-step. Even mom and dad didn't hit the sack till 4:30. Peter, Rueben and I jumped in the hot tub for a few minutes and watched as the sky slowly brightened to day. We were in bed by 5:30 and up again for breakfast at 10:30.
We spent today at the park again. I came home a bit early to start to get ready for the next party. All the leftover carcasses from the swine and wine are here. We picked them clean and are having a bunch of people over for salads and leftovers. I don't know how much of a laid back visit or a rowdy party it will be but either way I'll enjoy it. This food smells goooooodd. Time to go finish off my brocolli salad.

I'm at Hilo!! Sarah and Peter flew in on Tues. evening so after work I met up with mom and dad for some visiting time while we waited for the plane to land. I was in the area so it was a good opportunity to see my parents and to welcome Sarah and Peter. Thursday morning Dan and I raced over here to start my long weekend. It's very relaxed here. People are coming and going and things are happening but there's no rush and no stress to do anything.
So you might be wondering why we just all spontaneously decided to come home to Hilo.... it's folk festival time!! That's right... we love the folk festival. This festival started 9 years ago and our family has been involved right from the begining. It's like a great big family reunion every year. Even though our town seems small and dinky and really kind of sketchy sometimes this festival seems to bring out the best in everyone. It really doesn't start until later tonight but last night the park was already a bustle of activity and when I woke up this morning, half our household was already at the park. There are pigs on spits just starting their day of roasting, tents are going up, stages are going up and the organizers are getting ready for all the vendors to roll in later today. Years back Dad wired the park up specifically for this festival so for the last couple of days Dad and his guys have been wiring up all these stages and tents. When I woke up this morning everyone had already left except for Sarah, who then crawled into bed with me and we chatted for the next couple of hours. Cass and Dan came home with a coffee for me and a report on the progress of the park. Sarah and I made an AWESOME frittata for breakfast (on rye toast!) and since then we've been getting ready for the day. I've got to do up my hair and brush my teeth and then we're off to the park... probably for the whole day. I'm not going to wear jewelry today with the hopes that I'll find something folksy to buy from one of the vendors.
I know this festival doesn't compare with festivals like the Winnipeg Folk Festival (!!!) and some people will argue that point forever but I think that festivals (free ones) like this have their own class. They don't compare.
In other news.. I have seen baby Grace again! There have been some pictures but I don't have my memory stick here. I'll add them later. We even had a few fashion shows with her already. She's totally a different kid from Gavin and Jaela. I love that kid!
More news later...

Look what we came home to:

Dad found a hummingbird nest.... somehow. It's tiny! Really, this nest is probably about the size of a toonie.