A New Garden, A New Beau, and a New Hiking Spot

Our "garden" on Saturday morning:
Our new and improved raised bed vegetable garden filled with a mix of organic soil and compost on Saturday noon:
Okay, so the planting of the potatoes (with Jackson's help), tomatoes and broccoli didn't actually commence until Monday afternoon (thank you for the seedlings, Rebecca!). But with the help of Organic Bob, our dream of a raised bed veggie garden was realized with very little effort on our part. We first started talking about the garden with O.Bob Friday afternoon, and his crew was done by lunchtime Saturday. We would have had more plants and seeds in right away, had we not been so distracted by other fun Memorial Day weekend activities:

• Hanging out with my very best friend, Eden, and her new beau, Aaron, while they visited for a family wedding. We breakfasted at Hell's Kitchen in downtown Minneapolis...it was so yummy and so filling that I didn't need to eat again until dinnertime. (LOVE seeing E so happy with A!)
• The traditional Memorial Day picnic with my parents and their friends was a big hit, as usual. The rhubarb bars that Jeanne makes are really the main reason for the party. I don't want to talk about the ratio of desserts to "real food" on my plate...

• Hiking with our friends at a new place down near the river (and not far from our homes; a good thing with the rising gas prices) was a huge hit with the kids today. The leisurely hike even allowed me to knit while walking - I completed the toe of a sock! We saw these awesome tree roots by the river too. If it weren't a sad story of erosion, I might have been more excited that this tree looked like an Ent from The Lord of the Rings...
(And Jackson kinda looks like a Hobbit wandering through the Shire here too, huh?)• After an afternoon of planting some of the veggies, more native perennials and a flower basket for the front stoop, we all decided it was time to relax a bit. I hit the bath, the boys retired for story time and a frozen pizza was consumed by all. We're closing in on bed time now and I'd say that we're all ready. (Jackson may disagree, but that's just because he's 2...)