"Judge me by my blog, do you?"

Would anyone who just reads my blog (pink, books, flowers) guess that I really like Star Wars? (of which there is nothing pink or flowery about, and not a single book in sight!) But I do!

A few weeks ago I got an itch to watch Stars Wars. So on a Thursday night, when my parents were going out on their Thursday night date and Elizabeth to her evening accounting class, I asked Rachel if she wanted to watch episode IV. Incredibly enough, the resident Avengers/Tron fan did not really want to! But that did not stop me from putting it on and watching it, and Rachel decided to stay and watch part of it while she had dinner, which turned into staying and watching the whole thing.

Of course watching episode IV made me want to watch episode V, and of course you can't watch episode V without watching episode VI. (Actually I did once watch episode V without finding time to ever watch episode VI, so poor Han Solo was left frozen in carbonite for a really long time.) Anyway, so the next time my parents went out Rachel and I watched episode V, and then just last night finished with episode VI. My, it was intense!

I've seen IV-VI several times (I like IV the best, naturally,) and episode I as many or more times. (Unlike most people, I saw that one first.) But I've never seen II and III, and neither has Rachel. So we've decided to keep going and watch I, II, and III. I have it all worked out so we should be able to finish all three before Mom and I leave for Hawaii.

Meanwhile, Rachel has been keeping an internet eye on Star Wars Legos (perhaps she will add some to her growing collection) and I have been driving her crazy with my frequent Yoda imitations. ("Annoy her, I do. Mmm?")

Also, remember her league of Avengers frogs?  They've just been joined by a young Jedi frog named Luke Flystalker. 

Picture courtesy of Rachel. I'm still just figuring cameras out.

A Garden Walk

I was born loving gardens. I have been taking garden walks since I could walk. When we first moved to our current residence I almost refused to stay altogether because there was no garden and no green grass. But soon my green-thumbed mother remedied that, and today we have an even larger garden than before to stroll through.

Spring is here and everywhere I look I see life in the form of little green leaves and flowers of all colors bursting out! Come and see the garden with me.

That is an amazing color!

The roses are just putting on their leaves.

Don't go past the lamppost, or you'll leave Narnia!

Where there are flowers...

...there are fairies!

I wonder what's around the corner.

Another Fairy Bookworm!

Our walking companion.

This tree almost overwhelms me with its beauty.

Look at those blossoms.

And finally a look at Elizabeth's vegetable garden. Here we have red cabbage and kale,

a trellis for the sugar snap peas,

and garlic.

Have we come to the end already? Garden time must be faster than regular time. Don't forget to come back in June, when the roses will certainly be on parade.

A Day in Town

Yesterday our friend Mayu, the daughter of a dear friend in Japan, arrived to spend spring break with us. Spring is upon us and the days are steadily growing longer and warmer, perfect for spending time outdoors. Today Rachel, Mayu, and I helped Elizabeth plant peas, red lettuce, and kale in her vegetable garden, and later in the afternoon Mom took us three younger girls into town and we showed Mayu Grass Valley.

We ventured into this gem for the first time.

What a treat!

We even saw some familiar faces!

Decisions, decisions. There were so many flavors of ice cream, gelato, and sorbet to choose from! 

Mayu, Rachel, and I enjoying our ice cream.

Rachel always gets the same flavor whenever we go out for ice cream: mint chocolate chip.

Mom's Death by Dark Chocolate gelato was even dark enough for her. That's dark!

I himmed and hawed and finally decided on some caramel nut ice cream. Yum! 

We all agreed Lazy Dog Ice Cream and Chocolateria was a place to come back to when we have the need for something sweet.

After refreshments, we did some more shopping. 

One of Mom's favorite shops.

After all this walking, shopping, and testing of ice cream shops, I'm exhausted! I need a cup of tea.

The Cat-erpillar

Or maybe it's a Pill-cat! 

Insert British accent (we believe our cat is British): "Mr. Bingley, is that particular sleeping position very comfortable?"

Almost a Pixar Easter Egg

In my very own Fairy Tale!

In case you are not as much of a Pixar fan as my family is, the creators of those incredible movies always manage to hide the code A113 somewhere in each of their films. For example, A113 is the number on Mater's license plate in Cars. I still haven't been able to find where they hide it in Brave though. 

Rachel the Avengers Fan Strikes Again!

As I previously stated, the frogs have awakened and seem to be croaking louder and louder every day! One activity Rachel loves to partake in through the spring and summer is catching (and releasing) frogs.

The other night, when we were discussing frogs, the Avengers somehow entered the conversation and we began jokingly making up froggish names for each of the super heroes. Today, when I went to say hello to my younger sister in her room, I saw these impressive and amusing illustrations for each of the froggy hero names we came up with.

 

Sounds more German than Norse, actually.

I'm proud to say I came up with this name. 

Rachel said this was the hardest name for her to come up with.