Pretty Front Yard

Here are the pictures of the front yard. Bryan has finished the work on the lower windows. He had to replace the window sill from where he had to remove the bricks to replace the windows. Still have to remove the last set of shutters. Still have some trim paint to finish, but that is a summer project when the weather is nice for a while. 

I planted my pots and we got the drip system all hooked up. This year we were smart and actually planted plants that enjoy the full sun they get there. We weren't so smart last year and tried growing fuchsias there. Didn't realize the front of the house faces east and gets full sun for most of the day. Needless to say our fuchsias didn't do well. 

Planted hot pink geraniums in the pots on the front steps. Now Bryan just has to replace the handrail then the drip hoses won't be so obvious.

My hanging pots are full of Petunias in shades of pink and white with Alyssum, and some pots have Ivy Geraniums with some pretty purply trailing plants. (Can't remember the name of them). Hopefully these will do much better this year.

 

Then there is my little flower bed with my peonies and some tulips at the moment. Most of my tulips didn't come up this year. I think Bryan must have done something to them last year when he put the stones in. Not sure what happened. They were there last year! I still have to plant some colorful annuals in the front as a border. But I haven't really decided what I want to plant yet. Maybe some snapdragons, maybe more petunias, Not sure. Something pretty and colorful all summer long though! All I know is it is a HUGE difference from what our yard looked like last year! The grass is beautiful and we have plants! Not mud, dirt and weeds.  Big improvement!

What a great weekend!

What an amazing weekend we had. The weather couldn't have been better! It really did the body and soul good to have some lovely sunny weather for a while. I was able to air the house out, finish up planting the pots in the front yard, and even found and planted some peonies in the front yard. My favorite flower ever! I now have 6 of them, and a couple of them already have buds on them! There are 2 light pink, 2 hot pink and 2 white ones. They will make some gorgeous cut flower bouquets. Can't wait! I'll post pictures of the front yard tomorrow, left the camera at home this morning.

Sunday was such a great day. Highs in the UPPER 70's with not a cloud in the sky. I puttered in the kitchen in the morning cutting up meat & marinating it for steak K-bobs for dinner last night, made some Rice Krispie Treats and made a killer chicken salad to pack for lunch for the day at the track. Then we loaded up early and headed out to Molalla for the day of racing. There were lots of people there and all our BMX friends. What a great day that was. It was fun to just hang out with everyone. Let the kids play with their friends and ride, the parents got to relax and socialize with everyone. It was just a great day. Nick had a bigger class of 5 people and also decided to race without his clip pedals so it was a new challenge for him. He has been struggling with his pedals recently so we made the switch back to the standard pedals and he actually raced better than he has in a while! Ended up with a 3rd place finish which was great for him. Gabi also got 3rd but she was in a "total points" race and only had 3 people in her class. She had a better time hanging out with her friends and socializing than she did racing I think. 

Today we are hoping for highs in the mid 80's. I told Bryan he should take the motorcycle out for a ride today so we'll see if he actually does it or not. He thought it was a great idea though. Our good weather is supposed to last most of the week so I have planned lots of BBQ dinners. One of my favorite time of the year!

Great Northwest Nationals

The Big National Race was this last weekend in Redmond. What an experience that was! There were 205 motos on Saturday and 200 Motos on Sunday. 11 states were represented at the races, with some of the fastest racers in the country there. It was quite an experience for us! The kids were unbelievably fast, and there were so many people! Normally racing takes about an hour at our local track from when they start racing until it is all over. This weekend it took almost 4 hours to get through all the racing! 

Unfortunately Nick did not qualify in any of his races. He did learn some valuable lessons about riding with a full gate and having to jockey for position. They ride dirty at the National races which was a new experience to him. There was a lot of rubbing, intimidation, and trying to push riders up and out of the way. All legal, but different from what he is used to. He's used to having lots of space around him when he races at home. He now understands the purpose of practicing with a full gate and learning different strategies on passing people. Next year will be better! 

We were sitting by the first corner and saw so many crashes and jockeying for position Nothing too serious as far as injuries, but we learned how important position is in that first corner. Races are won and lost there. The last corner too. Nick missed qualifying on Saturday because he got cut off in the last corner. Live and learn.

It was fun routing for all the kids we knew and see race every weekend. Some did well and others struggled like Nick. But everyone had a great time. The hotel we stayed at had a pool which filled up in the evenings with all the kids. The kids were just glad to get some pool time in. 

Bryan managed to leave his bag of clothes at home which was a constant source of amusement. Especially since he was on everyone to make sure they packed warm clothes and didn't forget anything. Luckily there was a Super Wal-Mart right across the street from our hotel so he was able to pick up another swim suit and some underwear and socks. 

Nick coming off the gate on Sunday. He's in the middle. 

Nick leading into the last corner on Saturday. Unfortunately he went too high in the corner and got cut off coming out of the corner. 

They also had side car racing fun on Saturday. Bryan and I decided this is how we will race. One guy pedals the bike like crazy and the other guy pumps the hills and corners.