May Movings

First let me clarify the post title.  WE ARE NOT MOVING from our house!

BUT  we are always on the go aka moving!

Yes, that is our humungous, out-of-control back/sideyard mulberry tree.

We noticed about 3 months ago that our branches had beautiful, intricate designs.  We called a pest control specialist and found that Powder Post Beetles were making the creations on all of the dead wood surrounding the tree... aka "the Fort". 

Hard-Working Dad and the kids had spent hours on creating this makeshift fort.  Now due to the infestation of these beetles... it was time to either trim the tree or chop it down.  (The specialist suggested we take care of it asap before the critters hit the house and then cause marital problems.  He was speaking from experience.) We opted to take the whole tree out. 

We'd been wanting more gardening/lawn space in the back and this was a good time to start the process.  Someday, maybe we'll even be able to post a lush backyard but for now, it's super sunny... perfect for tomatoes and horrible for the 2 ferns and maple that were once relishing in the shade of the mulberry.

 Spring Carnival at the local school was fun for the family and one friend.

I was surprised the snack bar provided "no sugar" sodas!  Yayyy!

Thank you Zevia!

The end of the school year means the end of many fun, educational homeschool classes!

Here Son #2 is performing Grumio's Grumio in the Shakespeare play, The Taming of the Shrew.

Very Involved Mom was the Room Parent for April and she was concerned that this play may be too challenging for some of these students.  But when we saw their performance, we were so impressed with their abilities to improvise when things didn't quite go as practiced as you can see in this scene with Grumio's Grumio (Son #2), Grumio and Curtis.  Bravo!

Son #3 completed his Lego Engineering Class.

 Son #1 worked on making an aircraft carrier which correlated to the Korean/Cold War and his reading of "The Lord of the Flies"for his final English Project.

Jog-a-thon at Lovely Daughter's school!

Father and Son Campouts are always great together time!

 Son #3 and Friend D find chickens in a bush.

Campfire with other fathers and sons from the ward.

Outside Fun in the Sun

 Lovely Daughter and Friend L playing in a jeep after completing Poetry in the Park with other homeschool families.

Here is the poem she wrote and recited:

The Cat- What and What is it?

I am a cat.

I like to chase a bat.

I am fat.

I wear a hat.

I know a lamb.

And I eat ham.

My legs can bend.

This is the end.

Here was Son #2's Poem:

Peanut Peg and Peanut Pete by Jack Prelutsky

Here was Son #3's Poem:

The Duck by Ogden Nash

Very Involved Mom wanted a simple birthday. 

So we went to a nearby park with Aunt R (she was celebrating her birthday too).

On Memorial Day, we received free tickets to the Zoo.

 After the zoo, we headed to the Veterans' Cemetery in Dixon, CA.

We checked the Google Map app on our iphone to see how long it would take.  Well, there were 3 sections on our route with red dashes... meaning.... accidents or delays.  Hard Working Dad has little patience for sitting in traffic so we decided to take the scenic back roads.  It probably took about the same amount of time, but oh so much more beautiful!  We saw farms, but also since we were so close to the wildlife preserves, we saw birds that we would never see in the city (egrets, herons, vultures, hawks and birds we could not identify).  Much more of an adventure to be sure!!

We then placed flowers on Tutu A's grave.  

We miss him!