Big Soda Lake

It was over 100 degrees in Denver today, so after Ryan's nap we headed down to Bear Creek State Park to go to the "beach" at Big Soda Lake. Ryan was initially not enthusiastic about the water (it was surprisingly cold!), but then genetics kicked in - he's a fish, just like his daddy!


We did pull him out of the water after about a half an hour because he was shivering, which he initially protested - until he spotted the playground. Oh, the joy of sliding!

Belmar Farmers' Market

We like to spend Sunday mornings in the summer down at the neighborhood farmers' market, eating burritos and hanging out with friends. This year they've added a "train" (really a small tractor designed to look like a steam engine pulling carts), and we took advantage of the water feature on the plaza.

Ryan and Sam on the train

We foolishly thought Ryan would just wade in the water, and not actually get WET. Fortunately he doesn't mind being wet - and it was warm enough that he didn't get chilled (and he kept his hat on, which is a miracle in itself!).

The water feature starts out small but gradually builds up to larger stepped waterfalls - and of course Ryan was not content to stay at the small end. Here Sam spots him while Eli and his mama Kristine splash in the foreground.

You knew Ryan wouldn't stop until he got to the end. Dada is just out of the frame keeping a close eye on our fearless wanderer.

We were joined by Raymond, Kristine and Eli, Sommer and MacKenzie, Matt, Jillian and baby Ava, and the Brown family - Julie, Jason, Vaughn and Kyla. We also ran into Chris and Katya and little Nicole while splashing around - everybody was having a great time!

Gardening at Night

I finally had a few minutes to wander out into the garden last night while Sam was putting Ryan to bed, and look what I saw! It finally occurred to us (after three years of no strawberries) to put bird netting over the fruit so that WE could actually enjoy it, not them.

We also have blooms on our potatoes, which means the little tubers are plumping up under the surface of the dirt.

I need to thin out the carrots so they have space to spread and grow fat.

A couple of green tomatoes have already made their appearance...

...and the rest of the tomato plants (8 in total) have flowers.

The zucchini and summer squash are starting to bloom - if I'm not watchful, I'll have squash the size of Ryan before too long (they taste much better when they're small).

Most of the plants seem to be ignored by the bugs, except for this one sad zucchini. Hey, I'll sacrifice one for the collective (and I planted six, which no one in their right mind should do).

Video from Splash Park