Having a Heat Wave

Summer seems to have arrived. It is hot today, and luckily we are still in our week away from school, because it isn't an atmosphere that would be easy to study in. As it is, it's been a hard one to even manage getting along with each other and getting the basic day-to-day stuff done. My garden is growing, though.

To date, we have lovely lettuce, arugula, and spinach. The beets are up, as are the carrots, and the swiss chard. I've got some sugar snap peas almost blooming, and we've already been eating at the radishes. The zucchini and acorn squash are up, and there are flowers on the tomatoes and the peppers. The garlic and other herbs are strong and healthy. There's more oregano and mint than I know what to do with. I've also got a lot of healthy weeds. (bleeach!)

The flowers from a few posts ago have really filled in. The garden looks almost tropical. I'll have to get out there with a camera (and also weed it as well.)

The New Joker

Well, here he is: Astro (he came with the name). Some notes on Astro. First, he was supposed to be neutered. He isn't. So I've got to take him over to the clinic for that little operation. But first, he is going through some antibiotics for some sort of a bug. He came home with a little cough, and then it really blossomed into a respiratory infection of some kind. The antibiotics seem to be working though, he's much more playful than he was, and the disgusting side affects have stopped.

Second, he's big. Ninety-six pounds of joyful yellow lab. Ninety-six pounds of never stop smiling, running all over the place, bringing back every stick he can find, yellow lab. The kids adore him. They hug him, they ride him. I think the feeling is mutual. You usually don't find a kid without a dog, or a dog without a kid.

Third, Carmen, our other dog (breed: brown) likes him pretty well. Proof: she'll allow him to touch her. Even when she's trying to sleep. Plus, she likes to play tug of war with him and a stick.

Instant dog, just add family. Get a used dog.

Day at the Museum

I took the family hearts (well, the kids anyway) to the Milwaukee Public Museum. We had a lot of fun! The MPM has a butterfly exhibit where the butterflies are allowed to fly around. Deuce was a butterfly magnet. She had butterflies landing on her back, her legs, even her hair. She was also the most successful at getting them to walk onto her fingers. All the kids (except the baby) did get one to walk onto their fingers. They were prepped before about not touching their wings at all, and not grabbing them or anything like that. The kids, (even Jack of Hearts) were exceptionally gentle. It helped that the butterflies were clearly used to being handled. There were quite a few that landed on me, and even the baby had some land on her, but I shooed them away before she could notice she had one on her and love it a whole bunch to death.

Other things of interest were the dinosaur exhibit (a little to real for the Jack of Hearts, though, so we pretty much ran past the T-Rex), and the native cultures exhibit from Africa, South America, and Australia. The kids also liked exploring the Streets of Old Milwaukee, and the European houses exhibits.

This is day 2 of our week away from school.