Let freedom ring!

I've been doing my best to avoid the garden lately, I know I'm not alone in this!  It's so hot and humid... but lots of you are dealing with the same, so I won't complain, this time :)  I will however, admit that my threats to throw in the towel are starting to become less threat and more action (or inaction in my case).  I have officially ceased watering and bug collecting out there.  Things are drooping, burning, ugly, being eaten by insects and I. don't. care.!  I feel a little badly about it, but I really have been doing my best up until a couple of weeks ago, and I've already started to resent the time I've spent out there dealing with it all and neglecting the more fun things in life.  I am now only collecting my basket of a.m. goodies while they last...

Speaking of "more funner" things... we are starting to "get our life back" a little after years of toddler-dom.  The other night, the kids rode their bikes from our house, up over a relatively steep inlet bridge, and down to the oceanfront and down the boardwalk without stopping or complaining!  It was about 10 miles round trip that we did, I'm very proud of them.  I can't tell you how free this makes me feel - and for the first time we can enjoy bike riding, ice cream on the boardwalk and people-watching without paying for parking!  This is something I REFUSE to do, since I live in this city I am always fuming over the fact that we can't get near the beach and they charge $10-20 to park your vehicle, that's always been my main issue with going down there.  But now we are rockin' the bikes, having fun, and not paying a thing!

But first, nervous mom here spent the first night barking out instructions on how to ride in traffic over the din of speeding tourists, this mom gig is not for the faint of heart, but they have to start learning somehow.

Here is Finn riding up and over the inlet bridge that is the final stretch before the boardwalk.  Very busy road, but a nice shared use path separated from the traffic lanes.  I was pretty nervous here, and made him walk his bike down the hill, since all this separation ends smack dab in a busy tourist intersection down on "the Strip".  I wasn't thoroughly convinced he could brake well if he got rolling too fast downhill!

The destination:  Kids loving being able to ride on the "real bike highway" on the boardwalk.  They are learning to listen for the bells that mean someone is passing them and other courtesies, so much to learn when you're little.  We have these horrible Thai-style rickshaws that ride down here and take up the whole path and the tourists that rent them can barely pedal them, so they are learning to "respect the rickshaw!"

Goofy faced Loch showing off his first real bike injury.  He cried at first, but then we told him he wasn't a real biker until he had enough scars to prove it, so now he's a little excited about it.

Yesterday while on the base at hubby's squadron, we had a heron pose for us!

  

These are quite numerous here, but we usually see them in the water or in the marsh.  This one decided that the naval flight line applied to him as well I guess!  I hope he doesn't get sucked up in an engine, he needs to relocate :)

Finally, this morning's non-gardening produced this...

The tomatoes are starting to become smaller, but still here.