Last gathering of the Summer

Summer is coming to an end around here and Mike and Ann wanted to go bike riding. Next thing we know, if turned into a nice picnic outing. (Well, it was nice for a little while until we had about 3- 4 different radios fighting to see who was the loudest. Then, we decided to get to our house and we continued with the picnic there. Alas, it was very peaceful.)


Mike getting Ari ready with helmet and such. She does not care for the helmet, but she knows she needs it to ride.


A nice shot of the area. It is a nice trail, it gets harder as you walk in... not as flat and there were a lot mosquitoes. But the area is beautiful. I did not go in as much as Tiff, Dave, and Glenn, but I was able to capture 3 types of mushrooms. What a difference between them!


Well, this is not about the picnic. But, I wanted to include a picture of my best tomato of the season! What do you think? I see a salad with my tomato, mozzarella cheese and basil in my future :)

Backyard possibilities

This is one of the new Morning (or is it Mourning?) Dove that started to show up in our yard. We used to have a pair, and now we have about 5-6! There are not bad, at least they don't try to eat the vegetables and they keep in the back of the yard.

I saw this flower, does anyone know what it is? I have not seen it before, and I did not plant it. So, if it is a wildflower, it is very pretty.


I am hopeful that my "lovely" squirrels keep ignoring these tomatoes!


I cut one of the purple green pepper, the other one is not ready yet. we will use it to make a yummy salad.


These roses reminded me when I used to dance and had a huge red squirt with lots of waves. Oh, those were the days, when I was young and fit.


I took this picture a day before a squirrel will take the red tomato. Oh, squirrel! This is when I have a love-hate relationship with them!


My best deal of this summer came when I bought this plant called Wishbone. I paid 1 dollar. It was a small thing and I thought it was going to die, but it has grow at least 5 x the original size :)


Dahlias. Lots of dahlias. Love them.

More dahlias. The little dahlias. Tiny little dahlias.

Sunflowers. How about this, the squirrel gave us a gift! I did not plant sunflowers there, and suddenly one comes up! Thanks squirrel.

Toy and Nature again

Leigh Ann remember this toy? You gave it to me in the baby shower. Now, it finally sits on the fridge and Arianna loves it when it is moving. She keeps saying circle, circle, ....


Now, this is a photo of 6 friends that attended high school together. It only took 18 years for this picture? (L-R, T - B) Lubia, Rosaura, Eufemia, Me, Rosalva.

Going more into my garden. Here is a picture of tomatoes. Why are these tomatoes so especial? Because these are the first tomatoes from the plants I started from seeds sometime in April! I did not believe any of the seedlings will survive, but at least 6-8 are going strong :)


Alma we need to get the masa and the queso Oaxaca so we can do some really good Quesadillas! I love the taste of the zucchini's flower.


Can you see the top of the carrots? I am not sure if they are ready or not. I may pulled one out to see if we can finally get some.

A carpet of Rubeckia or Black -Eyed Susan as it is commonly referred. I love how it looks.


Begonia. The first one to come from our bulbs. I hope I get more. I like how the flower has so many dimensions, can you tell it looks even nicer with some of the drops of water?


Elephant's ears. Arianna loves these leaves. They are kind of purple, and purple is her favorite color so far.


Anyone some purple pepper? I'd never seen or pay attention to this color. I know there were some red, yellow, green, and orange, but no purple. I am waiting to see what kind of taste it will have.


What to do with a poor tree that died and a huge trunk left for evidence? How about a beautiful flower arrangement. Yeah, that is what Our neighbor's did. It looks awesome.


This is the tree in the front of the house. It turns purple on May and yellow on the fall. It is really pretty, maybe next year I will focus somewhat in front of the house. Still needs some changes.


Side yard. We have some hostas, peonies, and a flower bush that I cannot find what it is yet. It is really nice, but unfortunately we do not use it much. Maybe one day I will extend our fence farther so we can incorporate this part and use it more.


Huge honeysuckel in the side yard. I guess the previous owners loved this vine/bush so much that we have 3. All three slightly different color, but equally beautiful.

Favorite Toys and more

I love how these pictures came out with the natural sunlight. She was watching Super Why and was very concentrated with the letters.

Just a tiny smile that says I can still see that you are with your camera...


Ready to play the next game. In this case was the new blocks that she got.


On Saturday, I went out with Tiffany to Huck's Finn, Michael's (always a dangerous store for me), and then a thrift store on ~64th St. It has really good kid's books in great condition. Sometimes they are even new. So, we stopped by and found quite a few for our kids. Arianna new expression when she likes something is "Wow". Can you tell she was saying in this picture?

I found about 3-4 Richard's Scarry's books and 2 of them were new. Those books at the bookstores are about 10-20 dls for hardcovers, and the cheapest I had seen them are 6 dls. Here each cost 10 cents to 25 cents. Not bad! Her favorite is the one about Colors!

Mike is enjoying some sherbet while Ari and I go through all the goodies I got.


Tiffany saw this guy at Michael's, it lights up when it hits the floor. She liked it some, but books and one stuff animal won, which follows into what are her favorite toys at this moment:


Remember Ann? She likes to have this turtle on quite often. She likes "the purple"
Duplos, she loves to destroy what we make for her. But, she helps me put the pieces back on the box and we count them so it is nice. Sometimes we separate the colors too.


This little fellow is adorable. It is an Old Navy and cost me 80 cents. I knew that she will like it and she does. It is one of her favorites.


Peekaboo!


Of course, we can't forget the little books. I bought this at a Jewel near Mike's school about 8 months or so ago. She loves them. That is something she plays with daily.


While I was watering I told her I did not want her to get wet. It was a bit chilly for that. So, she decided to wait for me by laying on the couch. How comfy.

My new Chicago Rose (that is the name of the rose). These are the second blooms of this year.

First Dahlia of the season. I planted quite a bit so hopefully it will look nice.


The name of this flower is escaping me right now :( but it is pretty.

Update in my tomatoes, they are getting bigger, can you see them?


First peppers of the season, I lost one pepper to either a squirrel or the raccon, although I am leaning toward squirrel. They bit it and realized they did not like it ;) so I had a chewed on pepper...

This soup I got t from a magazine ( I think it was Quick and Easy). It is really good for kids and tasted better the second day ( according to Mike)

Vegetable Soup

5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of onion, cut in small pieces
1.5 cups of fine slice carrots or you can shredded too
3 stalks of celery - finely cut
I Added 3 potatoes as well - finely cut
32 oz of Chicken broth
3 -4 cups of water
1.5 cups of ditalini pasta

I added some salt, pepper to taste. A little of thyme, marjoram, rosemary, and oregano. (To taste)

In a dutch pan, put some olive oil and when hot add the garlic for about 15 -20 seconds. Then add all the veggies: onion, potatoes, carrots, celery. Sautee for about 7-10 minutes. Then add the broth and water come to a boil. Add the pasta. Cook for 10-12 minutes, I reduced the heat to a medium heat and add all the spices.

To serve they call for some fresh parsley and permesan cheese, but you can also do some cilantro chilli, and lime instead.