It's hard to believe that we are quickly approaching The Iowa State Fair! It seems like the snow just melted and we were enjoying all the blossoms of spring. I know we always say it, but the summers do seem to go so quickly. This past week we spent in West Branch once again but this time we were able to stay for a whole week! It was great to see all the family that was back in town as well...cousins, aunts and uncles and distant relatives. We kicked off the week by enjoying a whole lot of sweet corn and celebrating Sweet Corn Fest. We picked, shucked, boiled and cut a lot of corn off the cob to then be placed into bags and into the freezer. It was quite a group effort and I couldn't believe how quickly we finished. The rest of the week we spent swimming at the pond, playing with cousins, enjoying long and tasty meals together and making many new memories with our family and friends. It was a great week! Thomas and Ethan even slept over night in an authentic Teepee that Grandpa Fawcett made at the pond! We all roasted marshmallows together around the camp fire and then the boys headed out to rough it overnight. Uncle Jon and Grandpa told stories to the boys (Cousin Owen and Ethan) before they went to bed. I don't know how much sleep either of them were able to get but they sure had a great time.
I thought I would include some photos of our garden here in Ames. Thomas built an amazing fence around it to keep the rabbits out and we started planting right away in late March. We planted quite a bit this year, and are planning to learn through trial and error. This year we planted beets, tomatoes, beans, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, zucchini, 5 herbs, brussel sprouts, onions, radishes, and swiss chard. Everything is growing quite well now that we FINALLY caught the ground hog. It took some time to keep plants early on because she kept eating all the young sprouts right away before they had time to establish. So, with some persistance and several different traps, we caught her and took her out to the country. The garden looks great and it's really starting to produce. We've had so much rain, so we are still waiting for tomatoes to ripen but there sure are a lot of green ones. The peppers unfortunately also taking a hard hit. They caught an airborne fungus (or so we believe) and I sprayed them with fungicide but I think it's going to be to late to come back. Next year, we will be on top of it!
Today, we decorated cookies and Ethan got a tummy ache from eating too much frosting. Every time he got some "accidentally" on his fingers, he "had to lick it off". It was a joy to watch the two boys create and make a mess all over themselves. I wish these days would last forever!
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