Our Garden

We decided to build and plant a garden!  And by "we", I mean Josh built and planted while Peyton and I supervised.  Peyton loved being a part of the garden experience.  She was super helpful, especially when she put the rocks INTO the garden area, instead of taking them out... or when she filled her dress with dirt...  She also helped by using the water from her water table in order to "wash the mud".  

We already have some tomatoes on one of the plants... hopefully we can get some bell peppers too.  A friend of mine has a garden in her backyard and while at her son's birthday party, her husband told us we could pick some chili peppers and see if they would grow in our garden.  I'm thinking about starting them in a pot before transplanting into the garden.  Hopefully we can get those to grow too!

I'm certainly not expecting to supplement our dietary needs with this garden, but hopefully we can get a few things to grow and continue to add to it.  The cool think about this "garden kit" is that you can purchase more kits and then fit right together... once we get this garden established maybe we will attempt a 2nd. 

Mommy Daughter Date

It's already the end of our spring break and Peyton and I have not had much time to ourselves.  We were super busy with family the first week - they were in town of my Dad's 60th birthday bash.  Thankfully this second week has been a little more calm and today actually allowed Peyton and I to spend the morning together... and I didn't have to share her with anyone!

We started the day with a trip to the zoo... we saw the giraffes, foxes, tiger, BOTH lions, some monkeys, camels, flamingos, zebras.... then it was off the to carousel!  Peyton chose to ride on this horse.  While we were spinning round and round I looked down at the "dedication" plaque... it was dedicated to a little girl born on the same day (different year) as Peyton.  Coincidence?  Isn't that bizarre?  Of ALLLLLLLL the animals she could have chosen.... 

After the carousel ride we went to check out the komodo dragon and the elephants.  The zoo was starting to get busy by then which is our cue to leave.  We don't like to have to share our zoo!

We were super excited to see both lions out today.  The male lion that used to be at the zoo passed away a while ago and the zoo acquired a young male a few months back.  He has to be quarantined for a at least 30 days and then the two lions were slowly being introduced to one another.  Lisa and Brady saw both lions out together a few weeks ago, but each time Peyton and I went, only the female was out.  Today when we went by Cookie (female) was out, but you could hear the male making noise and rattling his cage (or something?).  You could tell that Cookie was agitated and once they let the male out on exhibit Cookie started pacing and making grunting noises.  She would even go stand by the male with her ears back and give him dirty looks.  :)  She was not pleased to be sharing her space with him (maybe he didn't take out the trash or something?) but they eventually both laid down near each other.  Peyton was not a fan on of the grunting noises Cookie was making.  They weren't loud, but I think Peyton thought they were going to get louder.

We headed to the gift shop (which now everyone has to exit through.... cruel...) to pick out a present for Peyton's friend Evan whose birthday is coming up.  

After the zoo we headed to Tempe Market Place for some lunch!  Peyton requested to eat outside and since the weather was beautiful, I gladly accepted.  We decided that Paradise Bakery sounded like a great place to find some lunch.  She did a great job eating mac and cheese and I enjoyed my southwest chicken salad... yum!  We even had a cookie to share. :)

After getting home we played for a little while, read lots of books, and then took a nap.  I think I may have fallen asleep before her.  Once I woke up, I was able to wiggle out of her bed (yes, a toddler size bed fits both of us just fine thankyouverymuch!)

I am so thankful for my days with Peyton!  Friday will be our last chance to have a day together, so we are going to think of something really fun to do.... just us... the two of us... my favorite way to spend a day!