Summer loving....

I hate summer with the burning sensation of the sun that causes some of my hatred....but, I have to say, that all things considered, I am having a good time....

We are enjoying the new deck patio; just this morning the kids and I read shark books and played 'animal farm' with all their animal figures from Agway (along with their barn). NOTE: No Communism was involved in this. 

But it is just really nice to sit and enjoy a beer out of a glass I stole from Fresh Catch in Easton while I watch my firstborn play hotwheelzzz with his hot mama....

I have talked about our garden for this year, but I never posted any pictures--we decided to forgo our 'normal' garden for this year (since all it was last year was a weed filled headache.....) in place of buckets for our tomatoes, and pallets for our lettuce and cucumbers! Everything, as you can see, is growing very well! We put them along the walkway out front in front of these two perennial gardens Amanda and I planted several years ago....and it has a definite 'cottagey' feel to it. The pallets work wonderfully because the 'rows' of the vegetables are planted in the openings...and then the wood slats of the pallet provide a natural 'mulch' or weed barrier. A virtually weed free garden!

With some leftover materials from the deck project I made a few raised beds and such....to the left of the picture below you can see a small bed/trellis I made out of the leftover wood....Amanda planted beans there, since beans love to climb and climb and climb (also, because it is pressure treated wood, we lined the bed with plastic so we dont die of poisoning and such......but look at those cucumbers and lettuces!!

And kudos to Sally for signing up for her first half marathon!! She has her training schedule printed out and she has been sticking to it. I am super proud of her diligence....and I cant wait to see her cross that finish line in October (oh man...does this mean I have to drive to Portland?? That ride is so boring!!!). Here she is after her training run this past Saturday....

And I cant believe these are the first photos of this: This is the longest in GoldsmithFamily HISTORY that it took us to get out to Lake George (one of our favorite places!). We are usually out there in late MAY, even!! But, for whatever reason, we just took forever to get out there....but we finally did this past weekend, and all is right with the world! Truly a gem of a place...right in Skowhegan/Canaan about 20 minutes away....gorgeous park and trails and picnic area and everything....water was SO warm....

We bought our season passes (good for a year since we enjoy snowshoeing on many of the trails) and we will be back soon!