reminiscing

My stepmom grows pretty flowers.

I have no real story to share here; this is just photos for the fun of it.

I spent a lot of time in my dad and stepmom's yard because it's gorgeous. My stepmom puts a helluvalotta work into her gardens, and it shows. (I just hope she takes the time to enjoy her work.)

One morning, I sat myself down and just played with my camera. I adore macro work, though I don't know the details of photographing, well, the details. So I just practiced close-ups, and enjoyed my stepmom's hard work.

She put in a few fountains here and there. Nothing garish, just simple and pretty.

There are raspberry bushes.

And a veggie garden.

And so many birds. Several bird feeders keep this joint hoppin' all day.

(I really wanted to get a photo of a robin and a chipmunk. I got my robin, but I never did get the chipmunk. Elusive little critters.)

Of course there are flowers. Pink flowers.

Yellow flowers.

Purple flowers.

Multi-colored flowers.

White flowers.

Where there be flowers, there be bees.

Lily was less interested in nature and more interested in the swing.

She let us take turns pushing her. (Read: she told us who she wanted to push her and when.)
I love that she still does the sign for "more."

The dogs spend a lot of time enjoying their yard, too.

They even encourage their mama to do the same.

A stroll down memory lane.

Lucky me got to see Krissa and Kristen, college roomie and friend, for a short afternoon reunion. Where else but on our own UWEC campus?
Krissa was pretty determined to visit every place of significance during those four (five?) years. We did the best we could to keep up with her. Fourth floor of the library was on the list. We did spend an awful lot of time there.
We got lunch at the soon-to-be-demolished Davie's Center. Lily had cheese curds.

We were outside of the sciences building. We didn't go in, because let's face it, the only reason we went there the first time around was by force and because of gen ed requirements and something about a well-rounded education.

Now this is more like it. Hibbard Humanities Hall. Third floor, foreign languages, 4th floor, English. Yeah, we spent some time here. We lived here once upon a time. We didn't have the fancy deck, but we did have some happy times.
Ok, so heading north and further back in time, here we are at Irvine Park. If you don't recognize those bear statues, it's because they didn't exist way back when I was a kid.
Along with the petting zoo.
Lily loved the bunnies, but she didn't want to pet them.
I loved the pig! Seriously, he was really cute! He wagged his tail and was so happy.

I felt so guilty when we had pork for dinner. But it was delicious.

This is Big Ben, a giant rabbit. The picture doesn't even show all of him. He's the biggest bunny I've ever seen. Except for the Easter Bunny, of course.
Dad and Gamma Louise came to the park too. Probably the first time in I don't know how many years for them?
Oh, and they not only have the petting zoo, but they also have animals you don't want to pet. Irvine Park still probably doesn't give them the room and the resources that animals of this size ought to have, but it's a pretty drastic improvement from when I was a kid.
Lily loved the tigers. She grabbed Louises' leg and said "Gamma, Gamma, Gamma," and pulled her over so she could see them, too. Cute.
But that was pretty much the only walking that Lily did.
When I was a kid on hot days, we went swimming in Duncan Creek. Now they have fountains to splash in.


Duncan Creek is still there, and when I got together with my old work crew, we went down there. Now they've built a path to walk down to the creek. That's right, we had to climb down a sad little trail.

The older kids gave me a glimpse into my future as they taunted their parents by going out to deep in the current. I hate moving water.


While some things change, it's nice to see that not all things do. Like this merry-go-round. I haven't seen one like it since I moved to Florida; all the new playgrounds I see sport colorful plastic complexes of slides, bridges, climbing walls, and tunnels. It was nice to see a that childhood classic still in place, and for just a moment, nothing changed.

If not for those five faces looking back at me.

Birthday party V.2

No sooner had we left one birthday party for Lily, and we walked into the next one. I began to wonder how I would explain that birthday parties don't happen every day. (Actually, I asked her yesterday - 3 full weeks later - what she wanted to do with our day. "Birthday party!" she responded. Sigh.)

We all took our regular places around the table and had birthday dinner.

And then there was cake. With cupcakes.

Did someone say cake?

Sugar sufficiently doing its thing, I think.

Erik requires more sugar.

Oh, and presents? Yeah, there were presents.

Cups! Lily loved the cups that Great Grandma sent her. She could spend hours, stacking them, unstacking them, filling them with pretend drink, pouring pretend drink from one cup to another, and passing out pretend drinks. And yes, even taking real drinks. With two hands.

I think there's a 30-year gap between the times in life when getting cups for a birthday present is really cool. My 32-year-old self wouldn't mind new birthday cups, either. But I'm pretty sure my 10-year-old self would've been pretty disappointed.

Lily continued her need to show each of her presents to Ben for his approval.

Lily also got a brand new princess sleeping bag to use when she stays at Gamma's house.

Not sure she got the concept, but she loved it anyway.