Boys have I got a lot of photos for you today! :)

Okay, starting where we left off ;)
Memorial Day weekend, we where on our way to northern Iowa, and had stopped over near the WI/IA border so we could visit Wyalusing State park.  After that visit, we went and spent a few days at my parents.  While there, we were able to spend a little bit of time visiting with my Grandpa.  He is 96 years old (almost 97).  I thought this photo of my boys and I with him turned out pretty good.

 While at my parents, and while chatting or watching tv, I made several water bottle holders.  Here are what I made. They are both for the smaller bottles, and for larger bottles as well. 

 I had previously made a few at a women's craft day at my church.  The ones I had left from that day are here:

 I actually took a few of the small sized ones to the WI Museum of Quilts &Fiber Arts today for them to sell in their gift shop. 

The last week of school saw Joel doing a World Showcase for his class. It was similar to a science fair except each group of kids did a display on a specific country.  Joel's team did Greece.

 Then after Memorial Day was Rob & I's 19th anniversary.  He surprised me with these roses. :)  That's like 3 times this year he's bought me flowers .. :) 

 I also was able to cut a few daisies from the yard.  This is from a plant that I brought from the place in Iowa.  I had actually started that plant from seed.  So it's traveled with me.. sort of.

 A close up of the roses.

 We had some baby grackles in the yard.  They are annoying little things.  Always crying for their parents! :)

 A mourning dove sitting quietly. 

 Here's a bush I have in the yard as well. I'm not sure what this one is called either.  But it's pretty.

 Rob also finally relented and let us purchase a firepit :)  Here is a picture of our first fire :) It's also using wood that I had trimmed from around the yard and had saved. (It's last summer's wood - but it was still a bit smoky.)

 We roasted hot dogs and marshmellows.  Here's a couple of photos of Seth and Rob enjoying the 'dogs.

 Joel had been the first one to eat.  So he was off exploring around the trees.  I caught him really quick before he could run away :)

 It didn't take too long before the fire burned down to coals.  It was short, but it was very nice to be able to enjoy roasted marshmellows. :)

 Here's a quick photo of Peaches.  She likes lookign outside.

 I tried a new recipe. This is Strawberry Cream Puff dessert.  I got it from this website.

 It tasted pretty good.  I was going to use fresh strawberries we had, but some were nearly bad .. so I decided to play it safer and use the strawberries to make a strawberry sauce.  Turned out pretty good - I could have added more sugar, Joel liked it, but Seth said it was too sour.

Here's a bloom that just opened up recently .. It's an iris that came from our house in Iowa .. and before that it was an iris from my sister's yard. :)  Isn't it wonderful when flowers can bring back memories :)

 Not sure what this plant is either .. we have several of them.  The picture really doesn't do it justice.  The leaves are a deep burgandy red, and the flowers are white puffs... interesting!

 I purchased a few flowers at Walmart to plant in the yard and in pots, etc.  Below is one that went into the ground into a hole. 

 A flowering potentilla bush.

Right in the front of our yard is a single rose bush.  Here is a picture of the buds. 

I love how the rose bloomed:)  Several buds opened up at once, it's very pretty!

Joel coming home on the last day of school.

I decided to use an old roasting pan that I had and put some of the purchased flowers in it.  Thought it turned out ok.  I put holes in the lid, then put the lid in the base and planted in the lid.  What do you think?

 Rob and I drove to Sheboygan last weekend.  Saw a couple of birds.  Here's a sparrow of some sort. 
My best guess is Savannah Sparrow. it was in the grassy/weedy spot near the parking lot on the shore of Lake Michigan. ( I was looking at this again, and I'm 99.9% sure it's a female Red Winged Blackbird. )

 A Mallard.

 Some Gulls. Not sure what type of gull.

This beautiful sunset taken from our driveway.

And finally - the iris that I transplanted from the side yard to the front yard.
Beautiful color, don't you think?

A better shot of the roaster planter and the flowers in it.

And that's about it for now! :)