Memorial Day

Our friends came over for barbecue and swimming (^_^) Good thing the weather was beautiful! We had lots of food: pork barbecue, ribs, corn, 2 kinds of fish, lumpia, hotdog, coleslaw plus chips and dessert ... mmmmmm. The kids went crazy swimming that they even had another session after eating and playing inside. Since most of them stayed late, we just ordered some pizza in addition to the lunch leftovers.

The kids didn't want to leave and they were already saying they want to come back (^_^) If only holidays lasted longer right? Well I'm predicting more weekend swimming playdates in the summer!

Before and After

We had our very first swim for 2009! The water was great once you get used to it. At first it was a bit cold but once you submerge your body, it was fine. I stayed for about half an hour and then just soaked up the sun (^_^)

In the slide you'll see our strawberries are starting to bear fruit (*_*) Aren't they cute? Little green strawberries. And our red rose has buds too. Our yellow rose has little buds too that you might be able to see in the comparison shot below. The pink rose has yet to sprout buds.

I wanted to show you a comparison of our veggies and flowers. You'll see in the photo the before and after shots. We've harvested our lettuce thrice, and the italian parseley once. We even gave some to our next door neighbor and our friends who came over last week coz there's a lot! And aren't our tomatoes big now? Even our cucumbers and zucchinis are doing well. Our flowers are flourishing too. So happy! Can't wait to see them all bloom.

Barbecue

First let me show you our pool. It's no longer a swamp (^_^) But the water's still too cold to swim in. Hopefully next weekend it'll be warm enough for our Memorial Day Party so the kids (and adults) can swim. We'll probably put the solar cover on sometime this week and maybe that'll help. Oh and the steps have been screwed in place already. This photo was taken a few days ago.

On to the barbecue. Since we're gonna have a party next Monday for Memorial Day, we thought we'd break-in the grill (^_^) We just invited out friends from the neighboring town to come for lunch. Jojo grilled liempo (pork belly) and Filipino style pork kebab. Yummy! Jojo already has a feel for the grill so he's ready for the party next week. Let's hope the weather will be nice too (^_^)

Swamp : Garden

Jojo decided to open the pool today. Look at what we found. They call this a swamp and you can see why. It's green! There are a few things that can make your pool water green (there's a hole in your pool cover, leaves in the water, a winter storm) and it happens often so we don't feel too bad. It just means that Jojo has to do more work to make it clear again =P. Good thing we have all the stuff needed to clear it.

On a better note, take a look at our veggie garden (^_^) Since we found out a rabbit has been munching on our tulips, and we found it near our veggies one day, Jojo fenced our veggie patch. It's cute that a rabbit's hanging around our place but we didn't plant those for them. So on the left side we have our lettuce, cauliflower, parsley, grapes and strawberries. On the right are tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini squash, cantaloupe, cayenne and jalapeno peppers. Let's hope they all thrive (^_^)

And I just want to show you the hedges out front too. Aren't they pretty?

Sitting Area

Our backyard is getting cozier (^_^) Jojo bought the swing and the bench a few days ago. We assembled the bench Wednesday and put it by the steps on the deck. Since that part doesn't have any railing, we don't want anybody tripping and falling on the steps. The swing we assembled this morning and then laid the bricks underneath. We ran out of bricks (>_<) so it's only below the seating area. I guess it's ok so at least you don't have your feet on the grass and the swing itself is more stable since the soil can "hug" the stand. Another good thing about running out of bricks ... no more leftovers! Before we had them piled up on the sides of the steps. Now it's all put to good use (^_^) That's recycling! We anchored the front of the bricks with scrap plywood we have lying around. That way the bricks in front won't fall over when you push yourself to swing.

I might put the small table currently in the florida room on the side of the swing so you have somewhere to put stuff on like drinks. I hope I find two matching ones that are cheap so there's a table on either side.

We're also planning on opening the pool soon (^-^) And Memorial Day is coming so that's a good day to have a barbecue party, don't you think?