JUNE

Lazy summer afternoon.

JULY
A bumblebee so "drunk" on nectar, that he can't move.

How I spent my summer vacation . . . "Square Foot Gardening." I built the beds, mixed the special soil mixture, grew all the plants from seed and made the trellises all by myself (ok, with just a little help from El Guapo!).


"Pool ball" squash -- like zucchini, but round and the size of a billiard ball.


Cauliflower


Sugar snap peas



A closer look . . .

Ever wonder what broccoli flowers look like?

AUGUST

Every year, we find monarch caterpillars, feed them until they turn into chrysalises and then set them free when they hatch. This was Lily.

One of the highlights of the summer is going to a local fair in a neighboring agricultural county. This year was even better because my parents, brother and his family and my aunts, uncles and cousins and their families were all there!

Bean
Bear

Bug

The corn dog company should send us a check to use this in their next advertisement! Aaaaahhh, the taste of summer.

Bug shares my farmer dreams. He wistfully longs for sheep. Can't you tell?!

Cousins and second cousins. (and sheep)

Gorgeous gals.

The cutest critter in the petting zoo!

The fair was so awesome, it even had tigers!

My pride and joy -- my first garden including my sunflower that I grew from a tiny little seed!

Let's get a little closer look. . .

And a little closer. . .aahhh. . .my "fourth baby!"

These beauties just glowed and brought me joy every morning.

We also celebrated Bean's 8th birthday by having a party with all of her girl classmates.

"Boola" and "Blito" (Abuelita and Abuelito) were also there!

No party is complete without a pinata!

Cousin Iceman braved Girl World! (and survived).

SEPTEMBER

For Labor Day, we headed north to a resort town and lake for the day. We hadn't planned on the day being so nice or the kids wanting to "swim," so at the end of the day, we let them head into the water in their clothes. Of course, the original idea was for them to just wade. "Don't get too wet . . ." Right.

Doesn't Bug's face say, "What's the big deal, mom? It's just water." I ended up agreeing!

Our town has Touch-A-Truck day with dozens of big trucks, construction equipment, firetrucks, school buses, Red Cross vehicles, you name it. If it's big, impressive, on wheels, it's there and the kids (and parents!) can climb all over them.

Every little guy's dream!

The girls loved it too!

Firefighter . . .

Big rig driver. . .

Paramedics. . .

SWAT team member . . .

And a good time was had by all!

At the end of September is the largest World War II re-enactment in North America. It is held about an hour away from our house and it is one the highlights of my year! This year's weather was gorgeous and we had an awesome time (ok, I had an awesome time).

Bagpiper

Every where you look are vignettes that look like the 1940s.

A jeep, a gun and the girls! (and if you look closely, you will see that I wore a skirt . Wonders never cease,)

A soldier and his dog.

Bug had a great time!

There are dozens of large military vehicles in working order -- pretty impressive.

Chica in a WWII front lines foxhole. I want one as a fort in my back yard!

Bear ready for battle.

The ZamFam comin' attcha!

The day ends with a large-scale re-enactment of a real battle or engagement complete with Hollywood-style pyrotechnics. It is incredibly loud with the explosions pounding off your chest -- exhilarating! El Guapo took these pics from the back with Bug. The girls and I were sitting right along the string-line -- front row seats.

Throughout the day are other minor skirmishes. This one took place in a German-occupied French village, but the Allies prevailed. (To preserve the realism, they don't always.) This is a Scottish force complete with our bagpiper and a guy in ghillie.

Hands up, Krauts! Check out the guy in the tam o'shanter and kilt!

This guy was trying to escape and the Scots had to subdue him. They really hammed it up and audience was roaring.

Our final outing in September involved an informal tour led by my aunt to several organic/cottage industry farms in a nearby county. This was dream-fodder for me, since I would love to have a small farm with some animals. I think Bug shares the dream. We called him the Goat Whisperer because the goats in this pen followed him everywhere! He'll always have the career option of goatherd!

If you are interested in seeing pictures of our 2008 trip to WWII days, I have placed them chronologically in 2008, but they are newly posted (today!), so check them out here.

Veteran's Day 2009

I walked into the school gymnasium and as my eyes scanned the room taking in red, white and blue decorations dripping with glitter, glue and "thank you's" scrawled by chubby hands, I started furiously swallowing the hard lump in my throat that had suddenly appeared. And through teary eyes, I only dimly saw the old men in faded uniforms pinned with once-bright ribbons who held the hands of their white-haired sweethearts. As we all faced the enormous flag on the wall, hands over beating hearts, I managed to utter about every other phrase : "I pledge allegiance . . .and to the republic. . .one nation, under God (really choked here) . . . with liberty . . . for all." And someone could have probably mopped me up off the floor as the preschoolers belted out a surprisingly good "God Bless America." When we were asked to sing on the second round, stronger voices joined the chorus, but mine was not one of them, although I did manage to croak out a few words . . ."my home sweet home." I could not love Miss Pam, the principal, more for getting choked up as she dismissed the children and said thank you to the veterans and had the kids hand out homemade thank you cards to everyone there.

As I surveyed this Rockwellian scene, I couldn't help but think that sixty-some years ago, these men and women, young and fresh, were flung far afield charged with the mission of saving the world. And for all the gratitude I carry in my heart, I couldn't help but wish that we had more to offer by way of thanks than an annual lunch in the gym, some shy thanks, a sweetly-sung song and a teary pledge. But the very nature of the folks dubbed "the greatest generation" dictates that this is enough and it is why as I pulled out of the parking lot, I had tears streaming down my cheeks because a proud white haired man wearing the uniform of II Corps (North Africa unit) waved and smiled at me as I drove away.

Thank you, veterans of World War I. You fought in one of the worst conflicts the world has ever seen and overcame.

Thank you, veterans of World War II. You did nothing less than save the world.

Thank you, veterans of the Korean War. What you sacrificed is not forgotten.

Thank you, veterans of the Vietnam conflict. We ARE proud of you and your service.

Thank you, veterans of Desert Storm. You answered when duty called.

Thank you, veterans of the War on Terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. My children sleep safely in their beds at night because you are not sleeping in yours.

Thank you, veterans of all of the other conflicts -- Bosnia, Grenada, Somalia and the myriad of other places where Americans have been on the ground righting wrongs and fighting evil.

Thank you, families of service men and women. You have lent America your very best.

Never have so many owed so much to so few. You are heroes. God bless.