swimming

Last Saturday we decided to go swimming at a friend's pool across town. We had a great time. Here is our video debut....

Abigail gravitated towards the small "beach" area to play in the sand. I think we have a future engineer on our hands.

Micah loved splashing in the water, but was a little tired by this point. He fell asleep about five minutes later and took a nap on a beach towel under our umbrella.

cold front

Today our high temperature was only 85, and it was partly cloudy. We celebrated by going outside to play.

ripe cherry tomatoes from the garden


micah reluctantly showing off his first tooth


abigail building a sand castle


lori and micah studying math together.

Lori teaches math overseas and is home for the summer. She came over to brush up on her geometry before she heads back for the school year.

fermentation

one gallon jug


"pump", tubing, cork, fermentation lock


After the foaming stopped, I siphoned the juice from the trash can into the gallon jug. I corked it and inserted the fermentation lock. I got these supplies from a wine making supply store for about $8. In four months, I repeat the above process (apparently this is called "racking"). Then I wait four more months and it should be wine. Homemade wine for Valentine's Day.

Red, Red, Wine

Fresh Grapes


Smashing (just hands, no feet)


The Must (wine term for the freshly smashed grapes)


Three Days Later...


Foaming Fermentation


...to be continued...

Garden Update

Gene has been hard at work in the garden. His flowers are blooming and are beautiful. Meanwhile, I have been tending to my garden. It looks like everything is doing well so far.

Uncle Hal

My brother, Hal, kept Micah for us while we went to the beach with Abigail. I think they bonded. He is such a good uncle.

Florida

We just got back from a week in Orlando, where we visited Gene's parents and brother. We had a great time with the family! We got to go to the beach twice, which was the highlight of our trip. Abigail had a great time splashing in the waves and building sand castles. Here are a few pics from the trip. Enjoy!