Finally! Something about Philly that is better than Portland!

In my backyard I have found some hostas.  I guess they were there when we moved here last August, but I didn’t really remember them. The other day I saw one way in the back of the yard; it had appeared so suddenly I thought maybe Cris had bought and planted it as a surprise.  Well, of course not.  It’s just the time when plants start to explode here.  All the little hostas are coming up so nicely.  And…

There are no slugs to eat holes in their leaves!

Yes, my dear Oregonian friends… there are no slugs here.  No slug holes in anything.  Not the hostas, hot the huge patch of daylilies (I am pretty sure they are daylilies) coming up in the front yard.  No where have I seen a slug!

Oh, don’t you wish you were here too?

Well, sorry

Is anyone still there?

Life is pretty normal here.  Our magnolia tree bloomed and lost its blossoms in the blink of an eye!  The dogwood tree is still blooming.  The daffodils planted last fall came up!  We’re getting ready to plant some irises, and are talking about getting a crabapple tree for the front yard.

Cris’s semester is winding down… and he will be gearing up for summer Hebrew in July!

James is doing great in Cub Scouts (Webelos) and Eleanor is enjoying her little homeschool Girl Scout troop.  Our troop is planning a garage sale this weekend to raise funds.  We skipped the cookie sales – one of our member’s moms objected to the unhealthy nature of the cookies.  Two weeks later, she quit anyway!  Oh well.  I’m taking the opportunity to unload some books.

James has informed us that we are not doing enough fun things – he’s right – so today the kids, Max the dog, and I went to Valley Forge.  What a gorgeous place this time of year!  Some trees are still in bloom.  We had a good hike; the experience was slightly marred by the appearance of ticks on us and on Max!  Ours were on our clothing, so no harm done, and Cris is getting good at extracting them from the dog.    Next week we’ll go to one of the other dog-friendly parks around.

We are still missing our friends but things are coming along pretty well here!