Does anyone out there remember this post? That was last year. Now this, this is this year.

The new, highly innovative, anti-squirrel device encircles my beloved tree to about five feet. First, chicken wire, staked in a two foot diameter circle of don’t-even-think-about-it dissuades all but the most resourceful of rodents. Next, plastic mesh wraps the lowest branches to create an unstable, trapeze-like surface to toss the little critters away. One stinkin’ squirrel seems to have crawled UNDER the device, eaten half a peach, and left it in the mulch. To add insult to injury, he returned the next night, ate the rest of the peach, and left the pit.  His calling card, I assume.  Well, let’s see him eat all 30-something of my peaches.  I’ll get him when he’s too fat to fit back under the wire.

By the way, anyone know when peaches are ripe?  I’ve no idea.

We made it to a beach!  Holland State Park was one of Brad’s family’s favorite summer hang-outs when he was growing up, and now with Ross and his family living nearby, we thought it would make a great first two kid trip.  The drive up was a challenge, with either Leva or Geert having some sort of fit at any given moment: Leva refused to nap in her carseat, Geert woke up essentially every time we hit a bump, and all in all it took us about three extra hours to get there, but we made it!  And although I’ve been to the park several times in the last dozen years, I think the water conditions were the best I’ve ever seen.  The water was a balmy 74degrees allowing even Leva to spend a lot of time in the water, and on the second day, the wind brought in big waves to jump.  Every time Brad tried to bring a shivering Leva back to shore she’d say “other way, Daddy!”  Thanks to Ross and Lynn for putting all of us up and feeding us, and we hope it becomes a yearly tradition!

Pics here:  WishWeHadALakehouse

Geert’s two months old today!  What is it with our kids and the devilish smirk at this age (and in the same set of jammies)?

Pics from the last month here:  LazyDays

The patio is IN!  And it’s IN the sun!  We knew this, of course, before putting it in place, but man, with this 90 degree weather we’ve been having, I think we’ve realized how exposed it really is.  Funny, after two years of waiting and wanting this patio, we still sit in the shade of our neighbor’s tree, looking at the patio.  No worries, shade planting will be coming and hopefully we can pick something that’s a rather fast grower (if you have any suggestions, let me know) so we don’t sit looking at the patio, instead sitting ON it for much longer.  We’re also looking at fences to corral the kids (and Brad) in the yard, which will also give us a little more privacy when we’re sitting out there.  Oh, and Leva calls it the PAH TEE TOE!!

Pics of the transformation here: Patio

Man, are these kids good, or what?

leva: daddy wawa!

dad: yes, that my wa..

leva: mama wawa!

mom: that’s right, that’s my

leva: daddy poon!

dad: no, that’s my for…

leva: mama poon! mama pate.

mom: what color is your plate, leva?

leva: red pate. milk! wawa! chalk!

dad: no, we’re not going to draw with chalk now.

leva: wawa. wain! (rain)  boom boom boom! airpane. helicaca!  gy.  (sky)

mom: what else is in the sky?

leva: moon. tweet teet teet.

mom: that’s right, birdies.

leva: TEE! (tree)  peaches. G!! Waaah waaaaah.

dad: what else does G say?

leva: ga ga goo goo goo.  dabi dabi dabi.

mom and dad:  ???

leva:  baf!  BAF!!! (bath)

mom: i’m tired.

We’re starting to get the hang of the two-kid world over here. We’ve managed to go to the waterpark a few times, the local pool, do the aforementioned ridiculous landscaping (patio comes next week!!!), and are now thinking a summer trip may be in order! (dare we?) A beach, definitely, but we’re not sure where yet. We’ll most likely invite ourselves up to Uncle Ross and Auntie Lynn’s house for some Holland State Park action, but will have to check schedules. Did we mention this to you guys yet?…

Leva is doing very well with Geert, and is starting to mimic mothering with both him and her dollies. We have to be constantly on alert as she can be very “helpful”, aggressively stuffing the pacifier in his mouth, wiping up his spit-up (milk! G milk!), and bouncing his bouncy seat for him. Geert is still working on his hockey hair, which continues to grow in, but is now showing signs of copper color at the roots. Could he be the next redhead in the family? Stay tuned.

Pics here: For Everkerke

I have a garden! It’s been a few months in the making, but 1271 Elmwood is no longer a house on grass. We started by pulling out the old yew bushes in the front and plucking out the clothesline posts with an impressive backhoe, so we could plant the front. After resting for a few months (it was tiring!), “we” attacked the back of the house. “We” (Brad) used a sod cutter to cut out all the beds, and used the best sod to replace the grass in the front of the house that had gone over to creeping charley and crabgrass (or no grass). “We” (Brad), then tilled all the beds, and then WE (I actually helped a bit with this one), planted all of our new pets. Now, 64 bags of mulch later, we’re nearly done! (lillies of the valley and dwarf lavender had to be ordered) All that’s left is picking out the pavers for the new patio to go off the back of the house. It may not look like much in the pictures, but we’re thrilled with our new oasis, and can’t wait for it to fill in over the next few years.

Pics of the transformation here: 1271Elmwood

Geert’s already a week old! And although we used to think folks were crazy when they asked us what Leva’s personality was at one week (how could she have a personality at this age?), we’re already seeing differences between her and G. He’s a *much* better nurser, startles more easily, cries when really hungry, and prefers to sleep in the bouncy seat over the bassinet. He also throws up a lot more. And ask Brad about diaper changing - Geert recently peed in his own ear, dad cleans it up, Geert then poops in the clean open diaper, dad changes it to a new one, Geert then pees again over the changing pad and onto the rug, dad cleans it up, Geert then finished the performance by throwing up all over himself, his jammies, and the changing pad. Ta-da!!

Pics of the last week: Geert’s first week