Garden work progress!

This week we got the 7 pillars of the deck footings in.

We had to raise the play and planter terraces an extra foot than
originally planned to meet the new deck level. Our deck builder
suggested this. We went with it.

We added drainage behind the 3 landscape terraced walls (really
important for the longevity and stability of the walls) and then
filled up most of the grade difference with broken up concrete from
the insane amount of it we still have on the slope (previous owner had
crazy landscaping ideas) ... And so we get some unofficial LEED points
;)

The "grand" entry to the garden stairs are in! Not finished but sooo nice!!!!

Next is the deck structure and soil/gravel to finish the landscape tie
areas. Plants will have to wait, if lucky we time it with the fall
rains. Our "green season".

Yay!

Juggling work and Frida!

Laurel entertained everyone and herself while we were busy in the
midst of garden remodel day 5.

She does this "Elsa make up" that makes her look like Frida Kahlo instead!

She's so fun and a joy to have around even when we wish we would have
planned a sitter or play date away so we can concentrate on the work
at hand.

Hay chica. Que no compares...

Que tengo hambre!

Artsy afternoon

We all enjoyed painting with water colors this afternoon.

Dah dah passed out.


Mommy collected the last of the apples from our tree

Laurel had a celebratory mango Popsicle :)

Little market shopper

This little lady went to the market
This little lady ate some bread
This little lady bought a few pears
This little lady brought her mermaid fairy
This little lady cried when she saw the giant floor cleaning machine!

Spider(?) bite weekend

We've had a crazy weekend. Laurel was bit in 3 different spots
sometime Friday. Not sure if at home (in bed) or at school. And not
sure by what.

We noticed 2 of the swollen bites before bed time Friday. And by 2 am
she had a feet of 101F (38C).

We spoke a fee times with the pediatrician on call who asked us to
draw around the redness and track if it increased. By the afternoon
after a nap induced by taking Benadryl and acetaminophen the red had
increased and she had a fever of 102.5F.

So we went to urgent care to get a doctors eye on her and they
prescribed antibiotics for the infected bite in her hand. They could
not say what bug could have been. But luckily the Benadryl must had
kicked in and the redness had reduced within the marked perimeters.

By the time we left urgent care all local pharmacies had closed and
the doctor said it was ok to wait until the morning.

During the night we kept and eye on her every 1-1.5 hrs and by 2:30 am
she had a fever of 103.5F (39.8C). A cooling bath and more fever
reducers we were able to get a few hours of sleep.

Today she's hovered at 100-102F and her mood is much better. Bites are
smaller. But now we got the runs! So we are on a diet.

Oh! I forgot the cat brought in a rat/mouse Friday morning and we are
not sure if it's still around. We have taken every shelf and all it's
contents off and the house is a huge mess!!!!!!!

Good times!