The homes of Harbour Breeze Estates Phase I slowly dissolve behind the new green growth of Spring out back. Spiky-haired cardinals blaze red against leaves and grass; frogs and crickets sound off in the evenings and the mornings are filled with chirpy chatter. It’s Spring in Virginia.
The pool is unmasked, free to show her lovely, clear blueness. The boys picked out some flowers to add a color pop to the backyard: yellow African marigolds and pink azaleas. We’re recycling the tired umbrellas that were left with the house – the teal fabric is faded and thin and may not last the season, but working well enough for now.
Sunny flowers from my sweet, sunny boy.
The Hefti Oasis
Stephane dug up some teak treasures from the bowels of the CraigsList. As the umbrella, they too, were sun-worn and in need of some TLC. But Stephane worked his magic and voila!
A few rounds of sanding and some teak oil can do wonders.Applying the teak oil.One down, one to go.
My pet project has dragged on but I finally finished it today. It took some time to complete as I needed rain-soaked soil to get the work done. There’s rock beds around our entire home and encircling the pool area. At some point there was a dirt barrier between the rocks and grass that had over the years been overgrown with grass and weeds.
Working my way around the back of the pool.
Left side done.
Hugo helped me by bringing me the larger rocks that I then used to create a border.
Before
After
BeforeAfter
And then this thing called Easter happened…
Stephane’s beautiful handiwork.Tradition at Harbour Breeze Phase II – the yearly Easter bunny prints around the entire neighborhood, done under cover of night prior to Easter Sunday. (I threw partly-chewed carrot as an added touch).Very excited to hunt for the eggs that we had painted the evening before 🙂 We left the eggs outside on the porch so the Easter bunny could find and hide them.This Easter bunny’s one generous animal! He even dropped off a few fun toys and some candy for Hugo.Enjoying Easter Sunday with Dan and Jess. Euchre, lamb, potatoes, salad, and neighbors playing raunchy music way too loud the entire afternoon into the night. Not. Cool.Yum!In between studying for EASA, covering shifts at random bases out West, taking EASA exams in Switzerland, running about with Hugo and fixing things that I break, Stephane found time to paint the garage floor! Here’s the before pic.And the after. Very, very nice.
In other news: the ice cream truck came to our neighborhood, Sephane and I were able to sneak away for a very fun mountain bike ride, and Hugo started gymnastics up again (he was going in Los Alamos and missed it so we found a local spot for him to attend).
Hugo’s first ice cream truck experience!A super fun ride at Lake Maury. If you can’t tell by my super red face, we were riding hard! Ready for gymnastics class!A special treat at The Branches wine bar while Hugo attends his gymnastics class. I think this needs to be our regular date night if only Hugo’s class were just a wee bit longer 😉
The Grizz (Winnebago View - active duty)
1,800 miles and counting
The Hungry hippo (Popup camper - retired)
1,200 miles
The Gruffalo (Tow behind camper - retired):
12,000 miles and counting
The Baby Bison (Tow behind toy hauler - retired):
7000+ miles
Maine > New Mexico + adventures in between
The Great White Buffalo (5th wheel camper - retired):
3,000 miles
Free Range (Slocum 37 sailboat - resting; getting overhauled in Nova Scotia):
Traveled 2,400 nautical miles from Oriental, NC > Antigua (end of the road).
