Goats are a great way to clear an area free of unwanted brush, weeds, or non-native invasive plants. In the organization that I work for, we've actually hired these goats to do just that at a couple of our sites. So, low and behold as we were driving home on highway 1 and looked over at the Cloisters park, we saw a bunch of goats! Naturally, we had to scope out the goats for ourselves and let Miss P have an up and close view of them.

That night we set out to visit them. The goats were very friendly and wanted to get an close-up of us as well! Too bad the electric fence separated us!

I texted P's friend Bode and let his mom know that she had to see the goats, too. The next morning we went back again for another visit.

See, who needs the Mid-State Fair (happening at this time)? We've got our own petting zoo right in our backyard!

Caution: electric fence!

Not sure exactly what kind of animals these are...

Lovin' the goatee!

Sharing our newly found discovery with friends!

We've been talking about putting a deck into the backyard since early this year. Of course, the most important part of constructing anything is the PLANNING AND PREPPING phase. Boy, does that part take forever!!! So, I was excited when Phase 1 of Project Backyard Deck was underway.

I really shouldn't say "we" because I had no physical contribution to the construction! Miss P's Mak and Poppa came over for a long weekend. He helped RT out all weekend while Mak helped me out in the front yard. Needless to say, we got a lot done. Thank you so much for visiting and lending some very helping hands!

Our deck looks beautiful! It is not completely finished, as RT is finishing up with the little things like the faceboard, the steps, and eventually Phase 2 which will be the pergola (my vision!).

The work begins.

Special delivery!

Getting it all level.

Poppa working the perimeter.

The first of many holes and nails to drill.

 

Looking like a deck!

Precise planning pays off!

Add caption



Laying the pieces down.



Oh boy, the inspector has arrived.

Ahh, I'm assuming your permits are in order?

Looks like you've got the right protection gear.

After a hard day's work, we test our agility skills.

More jigsaw pieces.

Congrats, the last screw was drilled into place. Whew!

After a nice coat of stain and sealer.  Very nicely done!

For now, we plan on enjoying it and having lots of grillin' time for the remainder of the summer and beyond. Thanks RT for starting the project and finishing it in my envisioned timeline. A BBQ dinner in your honor is "on deck" real soon!

With the summer solstice just passed, it's nice to enjoy the days with lots of light...when we get it. Not that I'm complaining because I'm not. Our summer pattern has started, so I know that when it's really foggy here in the summer, that means inland and in the valley, it's triple-digits. I can still remember those days vividly, and I'm so thankful that I don't have to endure that awful heat. It's bad enough that I have to go to work in warmer weather, but at least when I return home, it's so cool and a refreshing retreat!

To capitalize on the sunny weather this weekend, we took our gal P to the beach so she could run around freely. Don't let the sunshine fool you--it was very chilly!

Miss P had a grand time, beachcombing for all creatures great and small. She held onto a pair of razor clamshells the entire time, though. She'd give them to me or her Daddy to hold, but she'd come right back and grab them again. We found a little crab that was probably just recently deceased, so we took that little critter home for the collection, too!

As soon as we got home, we put the little beachcomber to bed, and she was out quick! Nothing like the fresh sea air to relax one's mind.

This is a pretty big playground!

What a sweet picture!

Looking at the little sand crab.

Nice camouflage!

I'll take those back, thank you.

Even the pelicans swooped down for an afternoon greeting!

But it is nice to set aside a day to give our dads some extra attention to let them know how special they are to us! This is RT's second Father's Day so I thought he deserved to give us his take on his adventure of being a father thus far.

In the meantime, here is a little idea of what our Sweet Pea did as an extra special effort to show her Daddy how much he is loved!

Roar like a lion for Daddy's morning greeting.

Take Daddy for a walk at Elfin Forest.

Mow the lawn to give Daddy a break.

Water the plants so he can ice his leg.

Give him lots of reassurance that he's very loved.



Enjoy a peaceful Father-Daughter moment...



For the first time in our history of being together, I've never seen my husband in a hospital gown (thank goodness!). RT was scheduled to have knee surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee--not from any particular incident, but from normal wear-and-tear.

While the surgery was an outpatient procedure and done arthroscopically, we still were not sure what was in store for us. The surgery was very successful and the doctor didn't find anything unusual. He was very confident that RT would feel so much better once he was healed.

We had my mom come over to help watch P during the day of the surgery and in case I needed additional hands taking care of the "patient".

Well, the "patient" was up and walking when I picked him up! He was up and around the same evening and was very surprised that he was feeling so well and in not much pain at all. By the following day, it was like he never had surgery and was even walking around at the park! Wow! He makes such a better patient than I did!

All joking aside, I'm so glad that he's okay and feels good. The road to recovery should be promising and he'll back in the water in no time!

Looking spiffy in that hospital gown!

Post-op and very coherent!

Up and around in no time!

Our workspace.

Trying to get ready for the perfect pose!



7th Annual Scrapapalooza!



I know that I have posted about my annual scrapbooking retreat with my gal pals. Last year it was supposed to be at our house but trying to coordinate a time after P’s birth and the impending birth of Kristen’s baby, we just ran out of dates!

So, I was looking forward to a weekend filled with laughter, sharing stories, silliness, and of course scrapbooking frenzy!

My gal pals did not disappoint. We had so much fun. As we got ready for our “photo shoot”, we were trying to figure out how many years we have been doing this. Although we started in 2004, we did miss out last year. We are at lucky seven!

In years past, we also used to calculate how many pages we completed for the entire weekend to try to gauge our productivity. We’re over that! But, I did calculate the time we spent actually scrapping. We only took breaks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and stayed up until 2pm each night. Not bad for working gals and moms! We spent about 20 hours scrappin’ the night away (throughout the whole weekend).

I worked on a baby album for my niece’s newborn. My goal was to start and finish it. My mission was accomplished. Here is what I came up with this time around. It seemed to go by really fast this year. I am not sure how or why I was able to finish this album in record time. I think it was because I was much more organized and came prepared with ideas rather than thinking of ideas on the fly. Hmmm…there’s much to be said about being prepared.

Thanks Elaine and Kristen for a wonderful weekend. I can’t wait for the next one!

Layla's album: