Gardening, Glorious Gardening

So I think I'd mentioned that on Monday, Queen Victoria Day here in Canada and therefor a holiday(!!!),  we were going to spend the day with Tim and Janice gardening and having a BBQ. We did that, and as a result, I was way too tired to write a proper blog post detailing our day on Monday night. But fear no longer, I am mostly recuperated (an afternoon nap yesterday helped immensely) and I have stories to tell!

So Sam woke up on Monday morning and announced, "I'm so excited to go to Uncle Tim and Auntie Janice's today. And Rachel is too!" and I was pleased with his enthusiasm. This carried on until, shortly before we left, when Sam found out that Dave and I would be staying as well. He had thought that just he and Rachel were going to Tim and Janice's. Once we got there though, a nice treat was that Willem took Sam under his wing and we barely saw him once we were there. And Rachel was all about Tessa as you may have figured out from yesterday's post. What a delight it was to be able to get work done without worrying about our children, much.

Dave and I mostly worked in one bed, although I did help with a bunch of other tasks and acquire things like gardening gloves for both our children, a tomato tower for my one tomato plant, a lawn chair for Sam, hostas, and a bouquet of amazing lilacs. Dave also took a bunch of photos, which is why he isn't in any of them, and weeded!

Tim trimming the lilacs and Tessa gathering them so Janice could make bouquets.

I'm digging up hostas and a shot of the weed-free bed.

Sam relaxed before lunch after a hard morning of playing with Willem. Rachel refuses to wear the hat we have for her this summer but she will sometimes wear Sam's hat and he's willing to trade. Thankfully.

After digging the hostas up I was tired so Tessa dug the holes for the hostas we were going to plant and then we planted them. And then it was time for lunch. We had an awesome BBQ of hamburgers, chips, salad and veggies. With some Trader Joe's iced tea with lemon because Tim and Janice had been to The States. I gotta admit Trader Joe's is another American institution I don't know a whole lot about (I went to one in Boston about a million years ago) and, after tasting that lemon iced tea, I am thinking I need a Trader Joe's education. And a supplier. It was yummy!

After lunch all the kids played outside for awhile. Sam and Rachel especially enjoyed playing in the rocks underneath the swing and slide.

Then we had a bit of a teatime. I got such a kick out of all four kids enjoying their time on the lawn while the adults lounged on the deck. I so appreciate Tessa and Willem being willing to play with, watch out for, and entertain our kids. Rachel, especially, is at such a busy stage, and it's nice to have a chunk of time to accomplish something and knowing that our kids are having the time of their life.

Dave took the kids home for quiet time/nap while I stayed to help Janice with some more planting. After she drove me home, it was time to deal with the hostas they'd given us. I divided two plants into five and plunked them down into our boulevard. I know we are only renting this place but the weedy boulevard has been the bane of our existence and I am happy to have less empty space to weed this summer.

Before we could "plunk the hostas down" we had to dig some holes. Sam supervised while I provided the manual labour. Ha ha ha!!!

We planted the hostas and they look really good. Well, except for the one Rachel accidentally sat on, but other than that, they look pretty good. And we've had a couple of major thunderstorms with lots of rain, so hopefully they are getting a good watering.

After a full day of gardening, I was happy, dirt covered and exhausted. So Dave and the kids picked up supper at McDonald's while I had a shower and made a salad. Then we ate outside for the first time this year. Yay! McDonald's forgot to give us our fries so we walked back and asked if we could have two sundaes instead, because who wants fries after finishing supper. They said "Yes!" and Sam and Rachel were happy campers. Then it was bath time for the kids.

We finished the day off with a fireworks display on the street right outside our house. Our neighbour puts it on every year. Last year Sam was terrified and this year we knew it was going to happen so we gave him a couple of options. He chose to watch outside and our neighbours even said we could go into their kitchen if it got too loud for Sam. Which it did, so we ended up watching the whole thing through their patio doors. (We wouldn't have had a good vantage point from inside our house so I was thankful they allowed us to use theirs.) Sam found the fireworks less scary this year although he did make me hold my hands over his ears the entire time, which was about half an hour. The fireworks ended right as a major thunderstorm started with impressive thunder and lightning. This meant that Sam did not fall asleep until after 11 so it was a long, but really good, day!