MULBERRY GONE, Wii, and a GREEN LAKE

WE TOOK DOWN THE MULBERRY
tree in the side yard. As much as this beauty provided shade for the yard, and food for the robins, It had to go. It was just too big, and too messy. From late June through all of July we are bombarded with purple stains; on the floor from the shoes walking in, on the side of the house and car from birds flying by, on the side of the white dogs, and I've even caught a couple drunk birdies meet their death to our fermented berries which cause them to stumble and fall, fly into a window, or get caught by the cat (that is generally very slow). Thank you Steve for coming down to help out (even though I know you had packing to do yourself), and helping Jeff out at the dump (it was about 1,000 pounds of yard waste by the time they were done).

First Jeff trimmed all the lower branches with a pole saw we borrowed from Dennis. Then Steve brought over his chain saw and they tied on some ropes. Here they are with the last little chunk at the top.

Of course, it landed on my roses!

WE GOT OUR Wii!!!
The kids wanted a Wii so badly at Christmas. A lot of friends had just got one, or were getting one. They decided to pool their money and begin saving. We made a chart representing all the dollars (Wii points) they would need to reach their goal. Zoe and Max have been working hard to get to their goal before the last day of school, but they still needed Wii points. After a busier than usual spring, I expressed the need for help in the yard, and walla.....we have our Wii. I told the kids that as soon as every area of the yard was weed free and planted, we could get our prize. We finished yesterday afternoon (while gaining a good couple hundred mosquito bites within the family).

Here is a little video I took last night of Jeff being a boxing champ while playing the Wii!

and the GREEN LAKE
adventure lives up to it's name as Jeff took the kids and both dogs out for a swim today so that I could get some school work done. Uuugh, I wish I could have been with them.