Hula

Lorelai is taking hula. She's had two classes so far and absolutely loves it. The class is taught by the same halau that has performed with Hapa whenever they are in town.






One of the coolest parts is that Lorelai's friend Sophie is taking it with her. Lorelai isn't a good influence on Sophie's ability to concentrate and pay attention but I think they're both having more fun because they're together.

It looks like so much fun that I've signed up for the adult beginners class. I start later this week. Hee hee!

We should have known he couldn't be that perfect.

During one of the recent multi-day rain storms we've had, Bingo decided the carpet in front of the fishtank was a more attractive spot to pee than going out in the wet. Since then, he has become un-housebroken. Its like we're back to square one with the mutt.

We decided we just wouldn't leave him alone with access to the house while we're gone since that seems to be his chosen time to foul the carpet. One rainy afternoon, to not be cruel and lock him out in the rain with no shelter, we shut him in the kid's bathroom.

Apparently he doesn't like being confined.

He's alive!

For my dad who was afraid that Bingo had run off on us since I hadn't mentioned him in a while.

He's doing marvelously well as the newest member of the family. He has gained 6 pounds since his adoption and can no longer squeeze through the fences (bonus). He hasn't continued to gain weight so we don't have to watch what we feed him. He has only one character flaw and that is that he goes completely apeshit crazy around other dogs. Vicious growls at huge dogs. He'll strain against his collar to the point where he's hacking and coughing. Stupid.

Good Fences

We have thought amongst ourselves since we moved in to this house that the height of our front fence made our neighbor's back yard a bit lacking in the privacy department. We were pleasantly surprised while working on the lawn to have her peek over the fence (stand there) and asked if we minded if she had the fence raised. After a brief discussion of the foolishness of hiring it out, she offered to pay for materials if Steve would do the construction. No problem.


Mandatory before picture:


Bingo kept us company:


The new fence has two step-downs to match the slope of the property and keep it from looking too monolithic. We also put the "friendly" side on our side the whole span instead of alternating:


We sealed the neighbor's side of the boards as we put them up and Lorelai and I stained our side:


Don't have a great after picture but you probably get the idea.

Frankenlawn

The lawn had a gradual slope to it, down towards the fence. There was also a low spot where the palm tree had been. Enter sod cutter.


We cut back the lawn about half-way across, rolled up the strips and back-filled with good soil to level it. Our friends were planning on removing part of their lawn so we shared the cutter and recycled their sod. A wee bit from the nursery and one more piece from the Depot and we have Frankenlawn.


Let summer begin.


Difficult to see in the picture but I'm reading the third Percy Jackson, Lorelai is reading Richard Scary and Spence in reading The Very Lonely Firefly. Not quite as relaxing as solo reading, but nice none the less.

The Tree

I know you've been quivering in suspense since I mentioned that the tree would have a fate... Here's a before shot to refresh your memory:


This was taken last summer so the tree had gotten even bigger. The neighbor didn't like the tree and had her landscape crew shear it off at the fence line giving it an odd triangle-shape. It was planted too close to the house (what did we know?) and required constant trimming to keep it off the roof and out of the gutters. There was a perpetual rain of leaves and seed pods that made the side patio a mess. We realized that it was only going to get more unruly and would become more of a chore to remove as it grew. Enter chain saw:


Steve rented a trailer and we loaded it up to take to the dump. Spencer was a bit upset when the cutting started but was a super helper when it came to loading the trailer.


Unfortunately he thought we were just taking the tree for a ride. When we started unloading it he began sobbing hysterically that he didn't want to leave the tree at the dump.

We went to the Depot and picked out new foliage which made him feel a little better.


Two queen palms at different sizes and the side yard looks huge now!

Monopoly

Lorelai has rewritten the rules to Monopoly:

1. Since the dice have gone missing (don't they always?) she has written numbers on little scraps of paper with arrows depicting which direction to move. For example, 12 spaces forwards, 4 spaces back. My favorite is 70 spaces forwards because you get to pass go twice, finishing $400 richer.

2.You collect $200 for passing go, in either direction.

3. You can build a house on any property you own, regardless of how many of that color set you have.

4. If you don't have a particular denomination of bill, you can "borrow" one from the bank, to hold its place so you don't forget which bill goes there.

And my favorite rule:

5. You get a jelly bean every time you pass free parking. In either direction.