Henry is 5!

Here are Henry and Helen in the beginning stages of creating the Star Wars Death Star pinata.

After it dried overnight, we cut off the top and painted it.

Helen stacked the cups like this for our party guests.

The sand box was a fun place for the kids to cool off!

Henry swinging at the pinata with his light saber.

Henry must have hit is 20 times! I guess it was stronger than we thought.

Helen gave it a couple whacks.

Candy time!

After the pinata, we came inside and all the kids decorated their own cupcakes.

Chaos ensued when Henry opened his presents. Really, I don't know who gave Henry what!

The perfect ending to a great party... Henry falls asleep with his new R2-D2 at his side.

Playhouse Update

Today was a really fun day. Helen went to Olivia's at about 10 this morning and Henry and I had some great fun together playing with Legos and watering the garden.

Here's Helen, Henry and Olivia using the swings and slide. They are starting to wear out the grass!

More pics to come. Just wanted to show you all the finished playhouse. Joe did such a great job!

Early July

I'm playing around with the settings on my camera a bit.

The poppies the kids gave me for Mother's Day are still blooming and just beautiful.

Henry is all eyes in this photo.

The potato plants are flowering and growing well. (No surprise, we are in Idaho!)

Cherry tomatoes are red and ready for salads each day. The bigger tomatoes are all still green.

The view down from the end of our street. Catttle graze here and I'll try to get a picture of them soon.

Here's a baby gopher snake the kids found on the side of our house. I was taking out the trash and it was under the trashcan. Joe tried to capture it, but it escaped.

We had a little picnic on the greenbelt the other day. The greenbelt is a trail that goes from about 30 miles outside of Boise, through downtown, and another 30 miles out.

The shirt Henry is wearing is one leftover from when I was 6!

Here we are at Eagle Island State Park, about 10 miles from our house in Eagle. We went with our neighbor friends, Olivia and Luke. Here Henry and Helen are trying to scoop up minnows.

Olivia, Helen and Henry looking for fish.

Henry was content to walk up and down this beach with his shovel.

There were lots of little fish near this log.

Luke and Henry cooling off in the sand.

Another shot of the hills behind our house.

Happy Independence Day!

Today was our annual Fourth of July neighborhood parade. It was hot, about 90 degrees in the shade.

Henry rode in the parade this year for the first time. We decorated the bikes in the morning with red, white and blue stars. Helen had candy in her basket to throw to the spectators.

There were literally a couple hundred kids there. The kids were separated by age level (3 and under, 4 and 5 year olds, 6 and 7, year olds, etc) so Helen and Henry had to start at different times. Helen went on ahead, throwing candy and stopping to say hi to friends. Joe and I walked alongside Henry. Helen waited for us at the Mercantile when she finished the loop. It was a lot of fun.

Tonight we go to "Simplot Hill" to watch fireworks.

Wishing you a happy Fourth of July!