Starting our garden

This year we decided to do a garden again. Last year with all the traveling we didn't have the time or would be home long enough to really care for it as we would need to.

Because the little play house started to become more of a clutter space and home to critters we really didn't want, Eric took it down during the winter. In its place we put up a new raised garden bed. 

We knew it was going to take a lot of dirt but with the success we had with our last raised bed we knew it was worth the extra effort. 

We did the dirt in stages and with the cold winter we had to wait until it warmed up to get any of the plants in. It also took a while for the garden centers to get the plants in, but we were happy to see it finally warm up!

We let the boys pick what kind of vegetables they wanted to plant this year, in hopes they would be more willing to eat them or at least try them. It was somewhat successful. 

One of Sup's veggies were potatoes, not that he likes potatoes, in fact neither one of my boys do. But he picked potatoes so that I could make french fries out of them. Which is the only way he or Thomas will eat them. 

It took most of the day to get our seeds and plants and then plant the garden. But it was a fun family activity and we were happy and excited with our new garden.

Livvy had a nice time in her swing watch everyone else work while she enjoyed the sunshine ;)

New hiking backpack

In preparation for our hiking trip we knew we needed a way to carry Olivia, holding her or a stroller was not an option.  

After looking around and seeing what options were out there for a child carrier we settled on this one we could carry on our backs. We got a insert to help her fit into it better, I think she was a little unsure at first. 

After we saw that she fit well, we were on our way! She really enjoyed it and was able to look around, nap, and enjoy herself in it :)

Playing soccer

This spring we asked Thomas if he wanted to play soccer again. He was really excited too so we signed him up and he started playing after spring break. 

Because Thomas is growing we needed to get him some new cleats and shin guards, thus Sup was able to get Thomas' old pair. Sup was pretty excited to try them out!

With the cold winter and a cooler spring we were happy to get outside and get out some energy.Daddy thought Livvy needed to get in on the action as well ;)

I put her little coat on and she was ready to go. But she needed daddy's help with kicking around the soccer ball!

Making trail mix

As part of our preparation for our trip to the Smoky Mountains we wanted to make our own trail mixes, that way we could customize the mixes for each person. 

Eric and I had picked up lots of different things that we could have lots of things to chose from. We had different types of cereals, nuts, dried fruits, and candy. Since a lot of the things were new we decided to have a tasting day. Then we would mix them individually and have four different mixes.

Sometimes trying something new is a little hard for these boys. Thomas did really well at least trying the different items, Sup was more interested in just trying the candy although he did end up trying most of the things :)