Our garden in full bloom

One of the getting home "chores" that I got to do today was go around our yard and take stock of how things have grown while we were gone. This spring has been amazing for the produce we have, staying cool for many more weeks than normal in May. After the frustration of flying yesterday (thank you, United), it was so nice to go into the yard and be able to pick something that we've grown. This is about half of the ripe strawberries that are out there, and the lettuce is what I thinned out of about 1/10th of what we have. Pretty exciting! After 3 years of trying, we're finally seeing real results from the work!


Other things around the yard are blooming, also:


Here's Laura, enjoying her snack:

7 Years

Yesterday marked our 7 year anniversary. I would've posted yesterday, but we spent most of it travelling from Kauai to Los Angeles. Here's the picture Grandma Bray took in the morning before we all left.


I'm starting to understand just a tiny bit about how older people tell you marriage gets better with age. We've only had 7 years to track, but talking about it last night, we decided that every year is getting progressively better, and we pray that God gives us many more together! I love you, David!

Pictures from Mom's camera...

Here are some of the pictures my Mom's been taking...

This is the house where we're staying:


The beach just off of our house:


Ellie being expressive:


The view of the "Bali Hai" mountain, a short walk down the beach from the house:


Carver, pretending he's on the beach at Normandy:


Lunch at the Hanalei Dolphin-good seafood and great drinks! (Thanks for the recommendation, Kim!):


David and I at waiting for our short train ride around a Hawaiian sugar cane plantation (this is our anniversary shot--our anniversary's tomorrow!!)


On the train:


Carver, showing off his Hawaiian shirt souvenir, a present from Grandpa:


Laura and BJ, sporting their sarongs:

Hawaii, continued...

We've spent the last few days on different beaches, lounging, playing in the sand, and snorkeling. Here are a few shots of those times...




Yesterday, David and I went with BJ and her friend on a kayak/hike trip. It was really enjoyable to get back in the Hawaii jungle a little bit, our group was small, and the guide was humorous. We paddled for 2 1/2 miles, and then walked another mile or so to get to a "secret" waterfall. We won't mention how many other guided groups there were at the "secret" waterfall. It was well worth the trip, though. The falls were gorgeous, if a little cold...





Even back in the woods, there are roosters. They are all over the island, wandering free and crowing at random times. This one crept up on us while we were eating and decided to announce his arrival...


The canoe trip back was a little harder--we were paddling against the wind, which made it more of a workout. But David paddled diligently and let me take pictures :)

Welcome to Hawaii!

We made it! Yesterday was a grueling day of about 20 hours of travel time, 11 of those being on airplanes, but we survived! After two easy flights early in the morning to get to LA, we were able to spend our layover there with Grandma and Grandpa Talcott, who had just gotten in from a vacation themselves. It was so helpful to have them entertain the kids for our 3 hour layover! David and I got a little break, and a chance to get energized for the next flight.


Our next flight was 6 hours to the island of Kauai, and it was the toughest of the three by far. Not only was it longer than we've ever done with the kids before, they were exhausted from getting up at 3:30 our time, and we had a seat arrangement that made things very tough. But the kids were actually much better behaved than we could've hoped for, and at last, we're here! The kids were up early, so we went and checked out the beach immediately in front of the house we're staying in. The water is warm, the vegetation is so different than we're used to, and the crabs, sea slugs, and shells at the beach are all so amazing!









We have more adventures planned in the upcoming days, so I'll try to keep the pictures coming!

Garage Sales and Farmshares

I have never been a big garage sale-er. It has always been painful for me to sort through used clothes, shoes, other items, only to find that I found nothing and wasted a half-hour doing it. But this year, I have been very successful so far, and it's making me think I might go more often. Last weekend was my first big success, at a garage sale in my neighborhood. I found these Loeb editions of several classics (including Plato and Aristotle for my husband doing his dissertation on Plato!) for $1 each (they retail for $20-$25). When I told the lady that I wanted all of them and tried not to be too obvious about how badly I wanted to grab them and run before someone else noticed them, she said she'd give me the whole bunch for $4. Uh, ok. Tough sell. I also found a few other classics at that sale, and came away with about 15 books total for $10. And David was thrilled when I came home with them. You know you've had a successful garage sale experience when your husband is happy with what you bring home.



At another sale that day in my neighborhood, I found this riding toy, which was totally worth every penny.


Today, on the way home from a baby shower, I shopped at a garage sale that one of the pastors in our church was having. I found these two chairs for $5 (together), and she gave me the few other random things I wanted for $1. How awesome is that? These chairs are my summer project, and I had been hoping to find something similar somewhere around Bloomington this summer, but I was anticipating having to pay more. The project part will be learning how to reupholster them, which I've had several people say is time consuming, but do-able. And no, I am not in love with the 80s-ish pink and blue current fabric. The down side is that my husband was not so in love with this find, and is wondering where I plan to put them. Don't worry, I reassured him, there's always room for awesome furniture. I don't think I convinced him.

In addition, today was IU's graduation. Usually an event that means "stay out of the downtown area for about 5 days" to those of us who live hear full-time, instead we ventured into college-apartment land to look for finds that people were throwing away. It is common here to just put items you don't want on the curb and somebody will decide they want them. While we didn't find any good furniture, we did find a nearly-immaculate camping pad, which didn't even look like it had been used. Pretty exciting! Now we'll have to try camping...

Our other mission for the day was driving to the orchard where I will be picking up my farmshare this summer. I have to say, in all fairness, today's experience was less than inspiring. They had their paperwork crossed, so my name was not on the list. She was happy to take my word for it that I had, indeed, paid them, though, so gave me my share. This week is cilantro, watercress, oyster mushrooms, red kale, and wild garlic. While there are not really any staple items in that list, it will make for a few fun appetizer dishes this week. I hope the output picks up over the summer, otherwise it will totally not be worth it. David saw my basket and kindly held his tongue, instead remaining hopeful that the yields will be up in future weeks. Thanks for being kind, dear!