Mission Accomplished

We had a busy weekend. On Saturday we went to 5 garage sales and got some fun things: a sweater, a darling ducky winter hat and a swimsuit for next summer for Katya; a sprinkler head for Brent since we go through them so fast; an old set of books that contain a thorough collection of childhood stories; a toy that reminds me of a see-through rain stick; 3 movies; a push toy for Katya that is remarkably similar to one we saw in Portland; an outside bouncy seat that is a little big for Katya now but looks like it will be lots of fun. All for just over $20!
I like "garage sale-ing" for a little one. It is fun to have an excuse to go picking through the kid stuff and and to discover cheap treasures. Garage sales are so unpredictable. You truly never know what you're going to find.
Then we ate lunch and ran into some old acquaintances who we enjoyed chatting with. Next we went to Fred Meyer to get some paint tinted for the living room and dining room. I bought this paint untinted 8 months ago and the brand is now discontinued, so it will be interesting to see how the color finally turns out. It took forever to get the color mixed correctly but Katya was a trooper while we waited, and we managed to keep her occupied with paint samples, our keys and her blanket.
Finally, we went to Lowes. We just got a fence put in around our backyard. It is a 4 ft. chain link so even though it is nice and sturdy and will keep dogs and children from escaping, we have no privacy from the yards around us. Wood and vinyl fences were just too expensive. So we decided to plant Arborvitae bushes along one side and maybe bamboo in the back. It will take several years for the yard to feel enclosed, but it's going to take years to accomplish everything we went to do around this house, anyway.
While we were at Lowes, Katya discovered (can you guess?) the water fountains. There were 5 that were low enough for her to reach and at first she went around to each in turn. Finally, she narrowed it down to her 2 favorites and she went back and forth between them, dipping her hands in as far as she could reach, trying to hold the streams of water that trickled down. She howled every time I tried to lead her away, so since she had been so good all day, I stayed with her, making sure she didn't knock the fountains over, craning my neck to see what other plant possibilities were there and Brent looked for the perfect Arborvitae specimens.
I thought Katya would seep on the way home, since she usually does when we drive back from Twin, but with 4 bushes keeping her company in the back seat, there were just too many prickly branches to feel before we got home.
On Sunday we drove back to town in Brent's truck to pick up the bouncy seat since it was too big to fit in the car and to get eleven more bushes. Katya had never been in the truck before and she was thrilled. She sat in her seat between the two of us and seemed fascinated by actually being up high enough to see out the windows, especially the front. It was also fun to try to kick the gear shift as Brent drove.
We got our toy and bushes and while we were at Lowes, Brent did water fountain duty while I darted up and down aisles.
Back at home, Brent decided to plant the bushes right away since the weather was supposed to continue to be hot in the next days, and school is also starting this week. So he used a fence post digger to make the holes (very labor intensive but easier than shoveling, he said) and I planted the bushes and filled in the dirt. Katya "helped" by sitting next to me with one of the wrenches Brent had brought out to fix the digger when it fell apart. She spooned dirt around and was very contented.
I was surprised we managed it, but we (mostly Brent) actually got all fifteen bushes planted in one afternoon!