Abby's First Tomato Harvest

Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt and Abby picked out a tomato plant and Abby brought it home to raise. She's worked hard all summer tending to it and Noni took great care of it while we were on vacation. Last night Abby finally got to harvest the first tomatoes. We ate two of them for dinner and they were DELICIOUS! Way to go Abby!

First Day of School

Abby and Daniel started school again this morning -- Abby is in fifth grade and Daniel started KINDERGARTEN!!!!!!

(I think I may have ordered Daniel's uniforms in a size too large!)

Abby was nervous to head back to school, but...

...seemed to forget that nervousness pretty quickly! (After I took this photo, she did come back and give me a hug!)

The Mayor

Abby's two-week theatre summer camp ended today with the final performance of Dr. Seuss' Daisy Headed Maisy. Abby played The Mayor. She was fantastic and we were so impressed. She broke her arm (in three places) the Friday before theatre camp started, so she was dealing with a lot at the start of camp.

Abby and her friends Ani and Olivia toast a successful performance!

And all four grandparents of course thought Abby did a great job!

LIfe with an English Springer Spaniel

It's hard to explain, but we have an English Springer Spaniel. This may sound like a strange statement, but those in the know, will simply shake their head and say, "Ohhhh, a Springer Spaniel." Some will say they are sorry, others will smile a strange little smile. And a few will say, "What in the world were you thinking! And one in particular will share stories of her Springer Spaniel, Butch...

Our English Springer Spaniel is Daphne. She's five and somehow we all are surviving...

Today we took her out for a swim. She surprised us by actually retrieving a stick over and over again...

We praised her and cheered for her!

And then we stood in wonder (totally confused) as she swam out to retrieve a paddle boarder. We really can't explain it, but we love this dog!

Mira

Earlier this week we lost our beloved little red-headed neurotic cat -- Mira. Will and I adopted her shortly after we got married. She lived with us in both of our apartments in DC and in our three houses (1 in DC and two in Rochester). She flew from DCA to MSP with Will and ate lunch with him in the Minneapolis airport. We loved her and are grieving her loss.

She was Abby's first pet and tolerated baby Abby and young Abby beautifully! Sweet, ten-year-old Abby feels so sad and wishes that "Mira was on vacation and would just come home..."

Our Backyard

A year or so after we bought this house, I paid THE local landscape business to come and design a plan for our backyard. The plan involved a lot of "boulders" and would have cost more than $30,000 to execute. Will and I both thought the plan itself was silly (and cost prohibitive). We've since puttered in the backyard with little to no direction. The result is a wild and untamed mess, but we love it! And it attracts critters...

...critters that drive our dog C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

Five

Look who woke up five...

Our Graduate

Daniel graduated from preschool this week! His graduation ceremony was held Thursday night and even though it is June, it was cold!! Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt and Tonto (Aunt Lisa) were able to join us for the festivities. Daniel was so proud and so serious! We all had a great time celebrating Daniel's academic accomplishments.

Daniel's class with their teacher Ms. Wadewitz

The graduates listen to the speeches

Daniel's two teachers -- Ms. Wadewitz and Ms. Hansen -- address the graduates

Daniel receives his diploma (be sure to have your sound turned on)

Ms. Hansen presents Daniel with his diploma

Grandma and Grandpa Engelhardt and Tonto

The proud family (Abby wasn't quite willing to put the cookie down for the photo...)

Our wonderful graduate with Ms. Wadewitz and Ms. Hansen

And now Daniel moves to his kindergarten classroom on Monday for a fun-filled summer camp.

Valentines (A Bit Belated)

Given that I managed not to update the blog in February, I've decided to play catch up...

Abby went with a snake theme for her Valentines this year.

And Daniel went with Star Wars. (That's a glo-stick attached to the card.)

Baby Fish

On Tuesday, Abby yelled excitedly that she saw a baby fish in our aquarium. I came running and was just in time to see one of our fish eat the baby. Abby and I groaned. We did see a few other babies and I was able to catch one in a net. Will and Abby went to the fish store and bought a breeding box to protect the baby.

The photo below shows our aquarium. It is a 30 gallon tank, so pretty big. The red arrow points to the breeding box that floats at the surface of the tank (anchored with a suction cup).

I was able to get the baby into the breeding box. This was no small feat given how TINY it was. The photo below shows a close-up of the breeding box. The red arrow points to the baby. TINY, I'm telling you! Abby named the baby Oh-Little-Blueberry.

The next morning I was looking in the tank and actually saw another baby (we thought they had all been eaten). I caught it and added it to the breeding box. Daniel named it Oh-Little-Strawberry.

The photo below shows Oh-Little-Blueberry and Oh-Little-Strawberry a few days after we found them. They are still tiny, but are growing. We are not certain what kind of fish they are, but they are either mollies or swordtails. Abby thinks they are starting to look like mollies, but I still think they are too small to tell.

Abby's First Car

Yesterday we said goodbye to Abby's first car and purchased what very well may become Abby's first car. Confused? Let me explain...

When Abby was three days old, we brought her home from the hospital in our Mazda 626. She cried at first, but eventually fell asleep.

Over the next couple of months, she spent a lot of time sleeping in that car as we drove around DC.

The Mazda was old when we brought Abby home in it, so we eventually bought a new car. It has been our primary car since Abby was quite young. We brought Daniel home in it, but now it too is getting older. It was time for it to become our secondary car.

So, yesterday we said our goodbyes to the Mazda 626. We all loved that car and affectionately named it Mama Beluga. Abby said her sad goodbyes.

And Will and I posed with the Polaroid picture taken when we bought the Mazda fifteen years ago (it was three years old when we bought it).

With our goodbyes said, we were ready to say hello. Daniel approved of our new car. Although, he and I really liked the red Corvette parked next to it...

As we explained to Abby, this will be the car she learns to drive in. And possibly her first car -- maybe she'll drive off to college in this car??

We posed for a family photo...

...and we were off on our first road trip (to Decorah for lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Engelhardt)!

Daniel quickly decided the new car is nap worthy.

And I decided that Minnesota winters should indeed be accompanied with seat warmers!

Broccoli Boy

We call him Broccoli Boy!

Cleaning the Tank

Abby and Will are busy cleaning the aquarium!

Out

Saturday morning tennis and swimming lessons wear a boy out!

Swimmer of the Week

What is Abby's favorite thing about being Swimmer of the Week, you ask? The giant chocolate bar!!!!

Our Little Cowboy

Will's a single dad for the next three days while I'm on a work trip. He started the day off well by putting together this outfit for Daniel's preschool's cowboy/cowgirl day.

My BFF and Me

I spent my day hanging out with my BFF watching the inaugaration festivities! I do love our democracy!!