Been busy

Life is hectic these days and I have not had much time to post!
Things are in full swing in the yard.

Japanese Barberry:



Fuschia:



Saw a cool church:



While out in the country:



Love this little dragonfly:



And this tiny little inch worm!



I'm going to try to make a better effort at blogging instead of just slapping some random pictures online. Soon!

Vegas

What a great trip that was!
Looking north up the strip from our hotel room:



We stayed at Treasure Island and the pirate ship show went on 3 times a night, right outside our room window:



Vegas kinda looked like that most of the time.

On Friday we went to Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum and Mark met Jenna up close!



We got married on Saturday evening (06/07/08) at the Graceland Wedding Chapel with Elvis in attendance. He walked me down the isle to Love Me Tender and then we all danced our way out to Viva Las Vegas. It was such an amazingly fun wedding!
After the limo dropped us off we went for a gondola ride at the Venetian.



The Venetian is such a nice hotel/casino/shopping mall. We went over there a few times. During our gondola ride we were told that the buildings are authentic to the same in Italy.



After the ride we went for supper at one of the restaurants in Paris.



After that we walked up and down the strip, taking in the sites. We watched a dance off between some pole dancers and a guy in the crowd (he blew them out of the water).



We were sad to leave Vegas but our wallets were glad to come home. It was such a great trip, can't wait to do it again!

Carnivale

This weekend is our town's big carnival days. We start off on Friday night with fireworks outside our front door (that I did not even bother trying to take pictures of because of the streetlamps between us and the show) and then Saturday morning is the parade. My oldest was in the parade with his Taekwon Do club:



We didn't see this happen but he broke his first board with a side kick at the parade. Here is the stunning reenactment:



A guy we know has started his own hot dog stand for events around town and a friend of ours and his dog went in the parade with the hot dog cart, mascot style:





This is the hot dog guy's wife. Isn't she a trooper?



After the parade we took the kids to the carnival. Our youngest is getting to the age where he wants to go on the bigger kid rides with his brother, thank the goddess because there is no way I'm getting on those rides anymore. When did that happen, anyway? I used to love rides. The faster, the better. Now? OMG. I nearly yack just watching them.
Anyway, the boys had such a good time on the rides ($$) and playing games ($$$). We are broke and can't afford to pay the phone bill this month now but that's okay. ;-P

Superman ride, the first go 'round.



Kiddie motorbike ride:



The Spider. 5 minutes after they got off this ride, a girl puked her guts out about 10 times on it. It was so nasty watching the carny gagging while hosing it down.



Superman ride, the sequel:





Tomorrow is the last day, hopefully we don't get rained on. There is a pancake breakfast and lots of entertainment down in the park. Always a good time.

Bloomin' in the Rain

It is raining like a mofo out there but my plants are loving it!
These blooms just opened this morning.

Baby lilies:





Blue Bearded Iris:



Can't remember the type of lily this is:

Hilarious video

Found this in my video folder yesterday, I had totally forgot about it. By the looks of the kids, it's about 3 years old. Look at the little one on the left go flying.

Planting the garden

FINALLY! The weather is right to plant the garden this weekend. My step mom is part Metis and they follow tradition that says you do not plant the garden until the full moon in May (in Alberta). Well, the full moon is Tuesday, I could not wait any longer for it!

Lillies:



Lupine:



Bunny Tails:



Pink Veronica:



Coleus:



Japanese Willow blooming:



Nine Bark blooming:



Lime Ricky Heuchera:



I love my little gardens, and I mean little. The south facing one is only 2 feet deep and about 10 feet long. Damn small yards.

The animals.

This is my sweet old lady Frankie. She just turned 16 years old in April. Love that cat.






This is our dog, Peter. He's a black and tan coonhound we got at the SPCA. He had been at the pound forever. Lucky for us. Even though he's a hot mess.