Garden Delight

Our little garden we planted a couple of months ago has taken flight. Initially I thought everything had shrivelled, yellowed, and died, but after two batches of miracle grow, everything greened up and started growing again. Look at the result.

Walking in Memphis

This past weekend I took the "fam" down to Memphis to see our old friends Alex and Bernice, and to celebrate a baby shower from another church friend as well. Alex and Bernice's beloved 150lb child Bruno (a bull mastif) was a source of endless fascination and delight for Aeva. He didn't take well to me, but turned into a gentle giant for Aeva. He gave her more than one tongue bath, with each lick easily wrapping around little Aeva's whole head.

Saturday evening the girls stayed in the kitchen talking about who-wants-to-know what, while we guys (Alex, Ronnie, and myself) had good wholesome man talk out on the patio.

Turns out Alex isn't half bad as a grill master. The veggie burgers were great, Alex! Someday soon, you too must become a vegetarian... it is inevitable.

Now, as much as I LOVE baby showers, we boys took a little trip down to the shooting range Sunday afternoon.

Ronnie and me did okay. Alex, on the other hand (Mr. I-don't-know-anything-about-guns) made us look like little girls out there. Somehow, Ronnie and I just didn't believe this marine's claims.

Futher insights

EPIPHANY #5 - Blueberries are also yummy, and do not require chewing before swallow. Of note, they do not always digest either.

New Discoveries

Everybody knows that somewhere along life's journey there are certain sentinel events that change the way we view the world. This last week has been one of those pivotal times for Ms. Aeva, though, what what some would call milestones, others might more rightly name epiphanies--for that is what they are. Here are a few of Aeva's this week.

EPIPHANY #1 - Mud. No explanation needed

EPIPHANY #2 - Cherry tomatoes go "Pop!" when bite them. They are also yummy.

EPIPHANY #3 - Sand feels wonderful on your toes. Aeva's Buela bought her a sandbox a few days ago, and now we literally have to drag her away in order to eat and do other things.

EPIPHANY #4 - Sharing is a good thing: Food, toys, pacifiers. The world is a much better place when Mami and Papa get to enjoy then too.

A Piece of History

Much to the dismay of my wife and parents, I recently called the ATF and acquired and FFL-03 . Basically, that's a special firearms license that allows respectable people to purchase what are considered historic or antique firearms directly from wholesalers at dealer pricing and then have your goodies shipped in the mail to your door step (I LOVE America!). Here is my first item for the collection and hopefully just one of many to come. This is a 1933 Russian Mosin Nagant. Note the sickle and hammer as well as the date on the above picture.

So here it is--model 91/30 Russian Mosin Nagant.... the infamous rifle used by soviet snipers and infantry in WWII that repelled Nazi forces. Its takes a 7.62x54mm round that's comparable to an American 30-.06 round. So for all of you not-so-crazy-about-guns people, that just means its a big nasty bullet that kicks like a mule when you shoot it, much more powerful than the standard military rounds used today

This particular rile even came with the bayonet and sling. What a great piece of history! You have to order the ammo online, and mine should come in a few days. More updates then....

Aeva's First Steps

Aeva can now officially walk!! What a great present to give her papa on Father's Day.

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