Fun in the sun

Yesterday it wasn't so sunny.

Actually, during the day it was. But by 5pm? It was stormy out. It was humid. I could smell the moisture in the air. Our first monsoon storm of the season blew through town. It's amazing how the monsoons blow in. You can see the clouds coming in. Like a steam roller. You can see the dust in the air. Gust of dirt and debris. The trees and bushes start swaying. The lightening becomes more visible. We've got many more storms to get through this year.

Yesterday's storm was a short one. We just got enough to get the ground wet. Of course, it evaporated in no time. But the biggest change was the temperature. Around 4pm, it was about 105 degrees. Around 5:30pm when we drove out for some dinner, it was only 71 degrees. SEVENTY ONE! Thankfully, by the time we got home the clouds had thinned. No more rain.

Since it was nice and cool outside, we all stayed outside and played until about 7:30pm. We saw a few other families enjoying the cool evening as well. When we were out, I noticed my potted plants were dry. Actually, dried up. Those poor little plants were done. Toast. There was no recovering from the state they were in. It was bad. Really bad.

So this morning, we headed out to Target and purchased replacements. I ended up picking up 4 plants. Two of one kind and two of another. So both my front door potted plants match. I made sure these new items were FULL SUN plants. I don't know the specific names of them right now, but one had tiny lavender buds (but it wasn't a lavender plant). The other one was more of a succulent and had white/pink/yellow flowers on it. I put those replacements in right when we got home. The kids helped. I had them put on their gloves and put the planting soil in the pot for me. I also had them fill up the watering can so they could get the soil nice and wet for the new plants. I have two pots, so each kidling was responsible for their own pot. That's the ONLY way we can get things done without arguing coming into the picture. Equal! Anyway, it didn't take long to finish. And now the pots are sitting under one of our Palo Verde trees out front. I'm going to keep the pots there at least until Monday, so the plants have time to get acclimated in their new "home".

I'm really glad the kidlings like to help out with yardwork. They do! If I'm putting in new plants? They're right there with their gardening gloves. If I'm sweeping leaves, they grab the extra brooms. If the Hubs is pruning the trees, they're right grabbing the fallen branches and putting them into the trash. SERIOUSLY? It's funny to me, but it's a nice way for all of us to do stuff together. They just love being out there. So if we ever were to move to San Diego or somewhere that's not scorching hot in the summer, I'm going to have a nice garden. One that we can work on ALL year round. But that's a dream that you all already know I wish for.

But what kind of stuff do YOUR kidlings like to do that you're surprised about?