Some pictures from when the Bradford Pear trees were blooming. From the side... in front of the air conditioning/heat pump thingie is the stump with all the termites.
From the front. These pictures are a few weeks old. Now the white blossoms have all fallen off and been replaced with green leaves. At the right corner of the house there is nothing in this picture, but our peonies are now up past my knee. And there are two yellow tulips by the walk that survived our mowing and have blossomed. Ben would like me to plant more for next year. He is particularly taken with our neighbor's red tulips. You know, because red is his favorite color... along with let's see, what is it this week? Orange, pink and blue, I believe.
We had a guy come and plow our garden - most of our backyard! (Hey, less grass to mow, more food to eat!) Ben was excited because there was a huge blue tractor in our yard. If it ever stops raining the man will be back to till it for us also.
Here's Izzie checking out a furrow. Ben and Izzie both like to play with their little garden tools, which is okay as long as I keep the two of them away from the termites and the places we've already planted seeds. Ben doesn't (seem to) have a lot of control over his shovel and always ends up flinging dirt into the air, his hair, and the faces of innocent bystanders. Sometimes I wonder how much of it is really accidental. Days that we dig always end with him having a bath and me washing the dirt out of his hair which he absolutely hates! So that I can get my work in the garden done, I think I'm going to let Ben have a chunk of garden for his own. He can take care of it and pick what he wants to plant. I'm pretty sure he'll pick tomatoes... because they're red!
On March 30th we took the bikes and trailer and drove to Virginia to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail, which is a 34 mile "rail trail." (A trail that follows an old railroad track.)
We didn't ride too far or too long but we had fun. The key is to turn around and head back before the children reach their limit - otherwise it becomes misery for everybody!
We stopped at the side of the trail for water and Cliff Bars. It's not particularly pleasant watching Izzie eat one of those.
Or cleaning up afterward...
The kids tried on our helmets.
Ben actually has a helmet that is the same as Daddy's, just much smaller.
Izzie still loves to be tossed around, as does Ben, though that's not as easy these days. According to the scale at his preschool registration, he's 36 pounds. Add Izzi's 20-something pounds and the weight of the trailer, and I'm thankful that Colin is the one pulling the bike trailer! 
