The Recycle Party Photos and a Garden grows...and, a Lesson in Bad Parenting...

Betsey sent me these photos of the Recycle Party she threw for Hadley, Mitch, Lexy, Breanna, Autumn and Tonio...

                     Autumn, Hadley, Breanna and Lexy enjoy beverages in the clubhouse.

                             Autumn, Mitch and Hadley eat salad and strawberries...very healthy.

                                        Tonio, Mitch and Breanna play in Mitch's room.

                                    Lexy, Autumn and Hadley eat green jelly beans and play Webkins.

                                     Mitch and Tonio enjoy grilled veggie dogs..at a green table!

              The kids made art work, reminding everyone to recycle and save the planet.  They did a recycling maze as a project and then did a scavenger hunt to find items that were recyclable.  They sure had a great time and it was so nice of Betsey and Brian to open up their home to the kids for a fun party!!

           Speaking of going green, we have slowly been transforming Kimmy's garden, in our back yard, back to the beauty that she had bestowed upon it.  It is a slow process, as we wait for consistent weather and for the right plants to come back in stock.  We were dissappointed that Target will no longer carry flowers and plants, saying there is too much competition - I know Ami Bunch reported on her blog how happy she is that Target will carry meat and produce, though and I talked to a manager there today who told me they are 9 weeks from completion on that!
           So we went to the Home Depot, looking for a lime tree to plant for Kimmy in the yard, but they have not come in yet.  We thought we'd get the veggie garden (yes vegetables!) going again, instead.  The bambini selected cherry tomatoes (Tonio), basil (Autumn) and eggplant (Cody).

                          Ahhhh sweet Autumn plants sweet basil - Kimmy's spice of choice!

                                   Bella offers a little green thumb expertise...she is a great digger!

                           Tonio adds the cherry tomatoes...saying 'This is hard work!'...

                          Autumn's basil is ready to grow!  She just needs to add water...

                No longer to bend all the way to the ground, Tonio lightly tosses handfuls of rich soil, chock full of vitamins, down to meet up with his tomato plant...still needs water too!  Cody escaped to Alex's to play video games and eat chicken and talapia tacos that Amy made for him!!
                 A nice day in the garden with the bambini - we also got to stop into Kohl's to visit Angie (incidently, my very first time I set foot into Kohl's in 6 years - I sucked it up so we could visit with the 'Shoe Queen'!) and then over to Viro's to visit with Rosa and Vito and to have some lunch - Cody and I are hooked on their pesto sandwhich!  Autumn made a huge bowl of pasta dissappear and Tonio had a hand crafted pizza pie!  And, while at Viro's, ran into Kristine Impellizzeri and her daughter Savanah (who got her driver's permit today, congrats!) who Kimmy had the opportunity to work with at Cottonwood in the Head Sprout program, helping children to read better. 
                  Kimmy loved her garden.  Keeping it green with plenty of colorful flowers was a joy for her.  She would spend as much time as possible adding, subtracting, rearranging, 'Do we have enough money for a little box of flowers, Dave?'  Of course, how could I say no to Kimmy?
                 Later, Tonio and Autumn had swim lessons.  Tonio  loves it. Autumn hates it.

                                         Tonio and Autumn await their turn to swim!

                                    Autumn's instructor, Lauren, adjusts Aut's goggles - Autumn had just swam out to her from the stairs.  They're getting there!

                Lessons in bad parenting:
              1) today, I let Cody go to Ace Hardware.  By himself.  To buy an inner tube for his bike.  I know it's only two blocks away.  And he turns 14 next week.  By the age of 14, I was riding buses all over the city.  Riding my bike 26 miles to Lake Nockamixon (there can be no right way to spell that name!).  And walking to school, 2 miles, uphill, both ways.  But the world was different back then...or was the media coverage different? 
             2) After swim lessons, we loaded up on McDonald's for a late dinner...no vegetables - unless you count pickles and fries, that is.  My cooking streak has ended.
            3) While we dined on our nutritious dinner, we watched the instant classic, Grown Ups, starring Adam Sandler and friends...and followed it with the classic Adam Sandler, The Water Boy.  High culture cinemtography.

           4)  11 p.m.  Bambini still awake, well, actually, Tonio crashed. On the floor of the Sports Room, watching SNL reruns starring Robert DeNiro...and, he was curled up with his Sprite from McD's...ahhhh, yes, just a boy and his Sprite.  And here is a girl and her pup.  Autumn has decided to pack it in.   Cody and I are going to watch 'Stranger than Fiction' starring Will Ferrell now...
  
            We did go out back just now to say goodnight to Kimmy, a nightly tradition...the Big Dipper was high over head this late and Autumn thought it seemed darker tonight...but the stars were so bright...