Flowers - finally!

We have this long dirt area along our fence in the backyard that had seen better days. The bushes were over grown and there were lots of weeds, so we decided to rip it all out during the winter. And by we I mean Danny :) We had great intentions to replant everything in the spring, but with baseball and other activities we just never had the time. Last Saturday, we finally found the time, unfortunately it was one of the hottest days of the year so far. Oh well, we loaded everyone up and headed to Lowes. I took too long trying to decide what color pallet to go with and what flowers and bushes would work in our super sunny location. By the time I decided what I wanted the kids were done. Here they are with the cart fully loaded. Unfortunately, this was by far not enough stuff, so I had to go back later.

All of the flowers were so pretty and I got Andrew and Claire to pose for a moment in between threats that they were going to collapse because of lack of food.

While Danny was checking out, they wanted to look at the fountains. They REALLY wanted a fountain and picked out several possible choices.

Meanwhile, Grant hung out in the stroller. We kept him busy with a steady supply of Puffs and he was happy.

This is a before shot - just plain dirt.

Then it was time to start planting. Note that Claire changed her clothes. I asked her why she changed and she said that she wanted to wear something with a cupcake on it. Okay, that sounds fine, but then I asked why she was wearing cupcake pajamas and she just smiled.
Then Claire decided that she should entertain Grant. This means that she plays with his toys and he has to watch - it is a lot of fun for him!

Of course we ran out of time and energy, so the process took three days. Andrew was a really good helper though. He was good at digging holes and putting the plans in by himself.

Since Grant won't keep a hat on, we tried the umbrella approach to keep him out of the sun. Take a look at Claire's chosen outfit here - a pink dress. She promptly got dirt all over the front and had to change again.

Grant trying to get up on his knees by holding onto the umbrella pole.

And finally, some watering. Andrew and Claire both love to water the plants. It has been really hot here this week, so I hope that we can keep them alive.
Claire's new favorite watering can.