Big Berner & Blossom4

How Blossom4 greets a new day:

Rambling

Spring Sunday afternoons seem perfect for rambling in the woods, stretching our legs, deep-breathing scrumptious air and exercising dogs who long for the woods as much as we do.

This time we ventured to a part of our favorite state park that I'd never explored. 

The Rugged Mountain Man had once cross country skied here, but the rest of us only became familiar with it at our forest-schooling co-op session last fall.  

Though this part of the lake is drained, I still felt the envy of the the kayakers I saw there on that magical fall morning last year.  

The evening sun made up for the lack of water and kayaks on this splendid Sunday afternoon.

Curiosity over this water crossing was what drew me to this trail to begin with.  

I do love a good bridge; they're quite possibly as poetic as a bend in the road.

Don't be fooled by the calm picturesque nature of this snapshot.  We were all marveling at Jake, romping through mud 12 inches in depth and then scrambling to get out of the way as he greeted us to shake the mud away. 

There's always the draw of the view.  What's over the noll?  What is beyond the tree-lined crest?  Blossom3 couldn't resist the urge to see.

We found ourselves at the peak of a local sledding hill, a place where I sledded as a child.  I told the stories again; the one where my brother hit an unknown ramp on the first run down and vaulted 8 feet in the air, while my dad sprinted down the hill to check if he was okay.  Despite having the wind knocked out of him, he was.

After soaking up the stillness on the bench, the Blossoms decided that sledding hills are terrific for rolling log-style down, since no sleds or snow could be fabricated at the time.

We hustled back to the truck to beat the setting sun and closing gates, delighted to have rambled the afternoon away.

Friday Fun

- I washed a boot. #thatsactuallyafirst

- Try explaining Russia's doping violations to your 4 year old.  #huh?

- Sometimes my hair looks like this.

- Blossom4 was picking up the slack and doing Blossom3's inside chores.  Since the dogs are being treated for worms with food grade diatomaceous earth that we keep on top of the fridge, she requested, "Mama, hand me the di-uh-maesh-uhs earth."

- "I'm pretending my big toe is the head of a snake!" Blossom3, on why there are creepy hissing noises coming from her desk during math time.

- Blossom4 ~ "Mama, our bathroom smells funny."
Me ~ "Ok, I'll go take a look."
Blossom4 ~ "I said it SMELLED funny."

- The little Blossoms may be little, but they still wield the power of revenge over Mama, by persuading Daddy to let them watch a movie in Mama's bed.  They ate graham crackers while doing so.  #itchybedtimeforme

Have a wonderful weekend, friends!

Dominique

In the Garden

I've noticed that Blossom4 really likes to just be in the garden with me.  I like to encourage that.

We all had a fun time the other "dinging" around in the bare flower bed.  We were tidying things up and having a little fun with the "blank spaces.  The Blossoms earned those picturesque little houses with their successful morning and night inspections.  I must say, the swing set is my favorite though.

Put Rocks in Your Garden

My sister-in-law sent me this pin for river rock garden markers, originating from West Valley Moms Blog.  The girls and I were so excited about making some!  It was the perfect project for easing out of winter and into spring.

And, it looked perfect for a Sunday evening craft session together.  

Bonus points for the craft being something useful in our garden!

We went free style with our painting and, of course, Mama got in on the painting too.  We used acrylic craft paint.

Once they were dry, I painted on the words.  I let them dry again and clear-sprayed them to seal them.

Every time I see these fun rocks, it makes me smile to think about how much fun the Blossoms had painting them.

Check out all of our garden beauties.  Can you find Cookie Monster or Oscar the Grouch?  It's no accident that I used Oscar for "cabbage."  

You may have already caught a glimpse of this delightful project in Tuesday's post about hardening your plants.  

 Just another way to be inspired, rather than discouraged by Pinterest.