This was a hilarious photo op, drawing lots of "Aww"s from the people watching me take the picture.
There was a playground inside the festival, of which we made liberal use.
The petting zoo was also a big hit.
Caetlin spent some time looking pensive on her high seat on Daddy's shoulders, and generally playing around in the lovely greenspace.
Finally, she loved walking back...
And forth...
Across this little wooden bridge that spanned a small creek within the festival ground.
After that we brought her home and put her down for a nap, as she was clearly a very tired child. Despite being so tired, she took a very long time to fall asleep, managing to poop twice (her favorite nap delay technique). While she partied in her crib and eventually napped, Bruce and I dug out the space for the garden. We basically dug down about 6 inches, in one of the only places in our yard that gets a decent amount of sunlight. We more or less hand-tilled the dirt and sod, breaking up the grass and roots by hand- we don't have a tiller, and the plot isn't that big, so while it was tiring, it wasn't awful. Then we filled the dirt back in the hole, mixing organic gardening soil that we bought from Home Depot in with the mostly red clay that is our native soil. (Can I say how weird it seems to spend $60 on dirt?) Finally, we gave it a good watering, just to help everything settle in.
Here is the finished plot, waiting for planting, which we hope to accomplish this week.
It seriously looks like we buried a body there or something- it's about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. Our neighbors are no doubt suspicious.
Here are the plants awaiting the newly prepared bed.
We have basil, rosemary, sage, chives, parsley, tomatoes, peppers and watermelon. I also have a couple of mint plants, but those are so thuggish in a garden, I'm just going to pot them and have them inside. Wish me luck that these don't all die over the summer, and hopefully I'll have some nice fresh tomatoes and peppers and herbs over the summer.
My next project, once these get in the ground and going, is to establish a potted indoor herb garden with the same plants. It's tough to do that here, though, since herbs taste best when they get lots of direct sunlight, and where the garden is, down at the bottom of the steps up to the house, is about the only place on our whole large lot that gets anything like a good amount of direct sun. I'm still working out how to make my indoor herb garden work out, but I'm sure I'll think of something. One thing at a time, anyway.
This morning, we got up and Caetlin and I met with the local Itsy Bitsy Yoga teacher for our private class. She doesn't have any weekend classes, so we meet her one on one (two, since it's Caetlin and me?). Caetlin loves the yoga- she loves doing the series of poses and moving her body like the active toddler she is- and I like the time with her. Bruce got a coffee and read while we were yoga-ing. Hilarious story from today's yoga: Caetlin is a huge fan of the "Toes to the Nose" pose (she calls it "Nose toes"). She was sitting on the floor, playing with the elephant beanie baby that the teacher had, and she reached down and touched the elephant's trunk to her big toe, saying, "Noooose toes!" It was hysterical- the teacher and I were laughing, after I translated for her.
Complete aside: One of the things that made me a little concerned about my fitness for having kids of my own was the fact that I never could understand toddler speech. Their parents seemed to understand it just fine, but I was mystified. I took this as a sign that I was not good with children. I have come to realize that parents know what their kids are saying, because they hear their kids all the time, and hear everything in context. So when Caetlin imitates me saying, "Let's get your shoes on!" I know that when she says, "Shuuzon," that's her imitation of me. No one not her parents or nanny would know. So, while I wish someone had helped correct my misperception earlier, I'm glad to know it wasn't a sign of my unfitness as a prospective parent.
After yoga, we all went to the Dekalb Farmers Market, which is one of my favorite places on earth. We bought a whole trunkful of wonderful fresh food, mostly organic, for $85. I can't buy 4 bags of food at the grocery store for $85! I still have to go to the grocery for some things, of course, but overall, we spend way less on much better quality produce.
That leads me to brag on my cooking for a minute. I think I mentioned that I wasn't a great cook about a month ago. I still wouldn't classify myself as a "great" cook, but I am improving so much! Mostly, I'm just not afraid of screwing up so much any more- it's usually going to be at least edible. On the menu this week: orange grilled scallops with mint and tomatoes, shepherd's pie (made with turkey and including squash and zucchini), and whole wheat linguine with cherry tomatoes and ricotta. Doesn't that all sound fabulous? Last night I made a frittata (which, why didn't anyone ever tell me how easy those are??) with asparagus and new potatoes and chives- it was so good. My cast iron enameled skillet has been getting a lot of use lately. I've really started enjoying cooking, and I'm terribly proud when I produce something so tasty. Plus, bonus, it's all healthy and veggie-laden, and I've lost 9 pounds, so it all seems to be working.
So this afternoon we ran a few more errands (including purchasing barrettes for Caetlin's hair, which if she will wear them, will be so freaking adorable), and then we met some new friends here for a 2.5 hour canoe tour of the Chattahoochee River. The canoe trip was lovely; the weather was perfect, sunny and in the upper 70s. We saw plenty of ducks and geese and a couple of herons and even a couple of swans. Then we had dinner with these same folks- Italian, which completely screwed my diet, but it was so tasty. In all, it was fantastic, a lovely end to a lovely weekend. Hope you all have had as good a weekend as we have- it's been just so perfect. My heart has been filled to capacity these last couple of days.
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