It's Our Favorite Time of Year

Summer is our favorite time of year around here. We love warmer weather and the chance to be outside as much as possible. 

We actually like it hot, but these last few days have been really pretty.

I took off three days last week. We did something that we never do...we let Miles skip school. Our intention was to plant the garden, but it turned out to be bad timing with the weather so we worked on other things. After the disappointment of not being able to plant the garden wore off, Miles helped me clean the porch. We had to sweep and wipe off all the shutters and furniture.

We also trimmed all the bushes and planted a few new things where we had some gaps. I added these azaleas. They provide so much color from the road. They bloom in spring, summer, and fall, and the leaves stay green during the winter. I have high hopes for them! We also put down a truckload of mulch.

Darrin said Miles gets to learn to mow some this year on the flat areas. He already knows how to park the mower in the garage which is very good considering it's a zero turn mower.

Carson likes to "help" too. 

When he's not helping, he just loves to be outside while we work. I moved his sand box to the back patio so he could play while I cooked dinner. Tonight, I raised the window so I could hear him and he entertained himself for a little while. It was so nice.

He got some chalk paint for Easter and played with those on Saturday. I think Miles and I liked it more than he did.

We also cleaned out our shop and garage. It seems like everything piles up during the winter and gets very dusty. Something about a clean shop and garage makes me very happy.

Darrin and Miles have done a great job on the garden. Last year was our first year to have a garden and we all loved it. Darrin enjoyed researching, planning, and seeing it grow. Miles loved picking the vegetables everyday. I loved being able to cook fresh vegetables. 

We expanded it to almost twice the size this year. We added several new things such as corn, peppers, green beans, strawberries, and green onions. Darrin and Miles got very fancy and buried the hose that leads to the sprinkler system. It's quite impressive. Miles spent time this afternoon adding some pavers for a walkway.

It's been a productive week. We have never accomplished this much by this time in the spring. I'm so excited that all the really hard work is finished. Now, we can just maintain and enjoy everything all summer long.