This is Sam.  Sam thinks he lives here.  He’s joined forces with my folks two hounds and together they form a pack of wild dogs.  Mostly they just hang out looking cute, but on occasional mornings my mother can be found scanning the woods for any sign of her mangy beasties.  This morning they brought us a tasty treat.  Dave, this photo is for you.  I figured you would like a good hunting shot.  To any chip and dale enthusiasts out there, my apologies– but doesn’t he look proud.

Flowers, flowers, everywhere!  Everything is starting to burst open here.  We picked up several hanging baskets the other day.  These photos are for Judy.  Patience grasshopper…

Sassafrass tree, or so I’ve heard.  If so, sounds like we can make tea from the bark.  

Every morning this past week the boys and I have walked out to the strawberry patch and had at least one or two new treats.  Tommorrow looks like we’ll have a bumper crop.  They actually ripen throughout the day so we check back in the evening sometimes for a freshy.  The first day we checked there were only two or three that were about to ripen.  They needed just one more day to be really delicious.  I started talking to Solomon about how we were going to wait and then I turned around and there was Sid with a half eaten almost ripe strawberry in his mouth. Nice!  He still prefers the half eaten thing.  I always find his partially masticated strawberry guts scattered in the grass after every morning snack.

We had our first official thunderstorm tonight.  Might not sound that exciting –but if you live in Alaska you are lucky if you get to experience thunder or lightning once or twice a year.   Usually it’s during one of July’s freak summer storms. More often than not we just get sprinkled on without any hard driving rain and zero light shows.

We heard the thunder, so we knew it was on the way, but it was still partially sunny out.  I was surprised when I saw Sid giggling.  Turns out he was the first to notice the raindrops.  He was running in and out of the rain rubbing his head where it was getting wet.  In between rain dancing he was letting out the silliest giggles.    I should have known he’d have a water fetish after jumping and stomping in the creek earlier in the day!  

The best thing about Alabama rain storms is that the water is warm.  It’s actually a relief.  When I lived in Atlanta, we would wait until it rained to go for a run because it wasn’t so depressingly hot.

Before too long the thunder and lightning were in full force.  The kids hardly jumped.  We’ll wait and see what happens when we get a really good one!

Alabama is full of red dirt.  Red clay, actually.  Growing up I thought it was the normal color of all dirt.  It is so strikingly noticable to me now as I drive around.  Anchorage has regular ol’ brown dirt.  

Sol & Sid decided to get a little muddy after helping Gramps in the garden.  We pulled out the sprinkler thinking it would clean them off but it only created the desire to wallow in the mud.  It was at least 80 degrees out.  Not quite “hot” by Bama standards.

After three weeks of travel and an excrutiatingly painful (well, not quite) overnight delay in Denver, the boys and I finally made it to Alabama.  Amazingly enough Solomon remembered where we were primarily because of the horses.  He totally associates horses with his “Alabama Grandma”.  It didn’t take long for Sid to figure out where we were as well.  As soon as he laid eyes on Grandpa’s Gator he was ready for a ride.  He is continuing his obsession with driving around the farm non-stop on the gator.  It is literally the first thing he thinks of in the morning.

We were in for a few new surprises this time as well when Sol was greated by Pokey the pony –now called Pokes — and when the new mini-gator made it’s appearance.