O-U-T-S-I-D-E

We may no longer say this word out loud in our house without the intention of allowing Eleanor to go out. She whines, grabs shoes, bangs on doors, and grabs any and all adult hands she can find to lead toward outside doors.

For the last few days, however, Ellie's gotten to be outside almost as much as she'd like.

We've gone for walks and runs, played in the back and front yards, dug in the dirt, gone fishing, filled flower pots, practiced climbing up and down stairs and planted seeds. Eleanor loved helping me fill the flower pots with dirt. She also loves helping water the plants with the watering can.


I finally finished digging out our garden plot. Seth marked out our beds for me and I got all the dirt transferred into it's appropriate places. Eventually we plan to build some nice raised beds, but I really want some vegetables this year, so we decided just to mark out our plans and plant as is right now. I think we'll build the structures in the fall...
There is still a ton of yard work to be done, but it's exciting to get the garden ready to plant. We took a risk and planted 6 rose bushes in various places around the house back in mid-March. We then had quite a bit of snow, but the bushes survived and are doing really well now! I also rescued some strawberry plants from the middle of what is now dug up garden and they are growing quite happily on the patio. After I get the vegetable garden planted I'm ready to think about clematis, hostas, ferns, etc. We also have a TON of tulips to dig up all over the front and the back... and a side of the house I haven't even looked at yet... someday I'll get some happily colored flowers and other annuals, too...

It's a good thing Ellie likes to play outside.