A Summer Saturday

The day started off chilly and wet, but the sun came out after lunch, and we took advantage of a Saturday in Summer.  While Austin & I installed our new rain barrels, Emily & Lincoln had a bike wash in the driveway.  I didn't give them the hose since neither of them were wearing swimsuits and it was still not that warm, but soapy buckets worked just fine.  The primary goal of this activity was to clean up the classic Radio Flyer tricycle I snagged at a garage sale of one of my MOPS friends yesterday.  It's still a little wobbly, but much better after some screws were tightened, the wheels oiled and the dirt washed off.  Emily had a ball speeding up and down the front sidewalk.  Lincoln can't reach the pedals yet, but he enjoys being pushed around.  I figure by the time he can reach the pedals he'll actually care about the fact that this trike is red and the one he rides now is pink & purple. ;o)

 

While the kids were zooming around the sidewalk and Austin was mowing the yard, I was trimming all the bushes.  This monstrous boxwood in front of our house is a bit out of control.  It was this bush that got me last summer and caused all my foot/leg problems.  I have been avoiding it ever since partially because of that and partially because of indecision about what to do with it.  I finally just got sick of it today, grabbed a hedge trimmer and started whacking away.  I took this picture after I had already squared off the right side of it.  Below is the after.  The "bald spot" should fill in.  It honestly should probably be cut back further, but that would take a lot more time and effort.

BTW, here are the new rain barrels:

After all that hard work, we took a popsicle break.  This was Lincoln's first experience and the first time Emily actually finished one.

And what summer day is complete without some sidewalk chalk drawings?  Here are Emily's creations for the day: