Memorial Day Weekend, Part Two

At Hyco Lake, Freddie's first trip out. He was a real sweetie.

Memorial Day Weekend, Part One

May

Zucchini plants, seem to be doing well so far.

Raised bed with sugar snap peas. Alex and I made a "seed tape" with the sugar snap peas. We cut out strips of newspaper and glued the peas along it 2 inches apart, then later he helped me plant them. They came up nice and even. I jerryrigged this very sorry netting myself.

Other raised beds, we'll see how this turns out. There are beets, carrots, and broccoli that probably went in the ground too late. There are tomatoes of various varieties, including some heirloom brandywines that are small so far, but look ok. These have just started to blossom. There are also some peppers that are not looking tall enough yet, and some lettuce that's looking o.k., that you can't see here because they're behind the tomatoes. I have my concerns that this bed won't get enough sun, so this inaugural year will be the test.

Alex and Molly after we spent Mother's Day at a strawberry farm.

We went to a party a few weeks ago, and it really was not swimming season yet, but boy did the kiddos want to give it that old college try.

Puerto Rico

A month ago Jen and I went to Puerto Rico. NPR voice: "This trip was made possible with generous support from the nanas and the papas." We highly recommend Puerto Rico to one and all.

First stop, San Juan

where we stayed in a groovy hotel.


Next stop, Vieques, an island off the east coast of Puerto Rico. Esperanza is one of two towns on Vieques. Above is the the malecon, the beach side of Esperanza's main street, Calle Flamboyán. You can cross the street from here (watch out for cars going 5 mph and teenagers riding bareback on horses going much faster) to find little shops, restaurants, and open air bars where you order rum drinks and watch the sun set over the mountains in the background of this picture. It's literally paradise.


View from the malecon out to sea, where you'll see Jen (on a good day), sailboats, and an island called Cayo de Afuera. We snorkled around the island.


Vieques has lots of beaches. This one is called Navio. We were told they filmed a movie version of the Lord of the Flies here. We did not find a society of tyrannical children. We found paradise.


Even the local business people know they're in paradise.

Jen's final thoughts on Vieques: we need to go back, take the kids, and she wants you, all of you, to come along.


Final stop, El Yunque rainforest back on the main island


where we stayed at a place with an outdoor kitchen, which turns out to be a great idea. The highlights of the rainforest included loud frogs, terrific jungly flora, and waterfalls.




Even more pictures