My 2 sisters and I decided to take the kids to the Oregon Zoo today. Everyone had a blast. It was so awesome to use my zoo pass to the utmost–and we only had to pay for 2 of our large group. I have plans to use the pass again in the near future.
It was such a treat to have some of the big cousins with us, too. Jake decided Auntie Rosalie and cousin Rachel were the best ones to hang with for quite a while and even though the search for a snow cone was unsuccessful…. even though we hiked around for 2.5 miles looking for one…..even though we never, ever found one…..we saw a lot of animal along the way:)
Michaela loves trains and had a great time riding the zoo train.
We did quite a few other frugal things this week.
We took Patsy, Anthony and Allison bowling, using the Kids Bowl Free passes, along with the family pass I bought at the beginning of the season for less than $25. I bowled as well, making a total of 4 bowlers. You are supposed to pay for shoe rental, plus Allison wasn’t on the pass. In the end, the bowling alley chose to charge us only $6. I think I owed a little more than that, but when I pointed it out, the gentleman would not take any more. How nice of them.
I let the garden grow, which it did all on its own. We had rain almost daily, so I was only able to get out there and hoe a couple of times. I did do more pruning and filled the yard debris bin again.
We had a family house cleaning party over at my sister’s house. We were all pitching in because there was a birthday party there Sunday, and Alissa’s graduation party next Saturday. With all of us who showed up, we whipped that place into shape quickly, and then enjoyed a nice potluck lunch.
My oldest sister has a talent for cleaning, and Jake was waiting and waiting for Auntie to come help clean his room. He sat on the bed declaring that he was the “boss” and helping us clean off and on, having so much fun telling us aunties what to do:). Jake’s room is so clean now that I took him home for 2 nights, and so it could stay that way for a little while (but mostly because he wanted to come over). He’s home now, so……..
It sounds like you had great family fun. I have plans to take my granddaughter to our zoo with another Grandma and granddaughter in August. Can you send some of that rain this way :o)
That sounds like fun!
I think it’s supposed to stop raining this week around here—but the garden looks suspiciously wet right now…..hmmmm….
I love the Portland zoo.
I also like the Tacoma zoo over the Seattle zoo if kids are in tow. The Seattle zoo has too much ground to cover with little kids.
Harvested my first strawberries this week.
I am glad you got some strawberries. I think, even after all that work, I’ve picked about 10 so far, and they are mostly slug-eaten:(. I went u-picking with my sister and friend. Sometimes, it’s just the best thing to do!
I’ve been to the zoo at Tacoma, and also at Seattle. I liked them both, but I agree, the one at Tacoma is the one we have been to more than once. They are a little far away, so we haven’t been for a few years, but they were both fun in their own way.
Try crushed egg shells for the slugs. Or, if you can get to a feed store, buy a bag of Cow Bran and use the bran around the perimeter. It works the same as snail bait but doesn’t have the chemicals. You have to reapply after it rains though
I’ve never heard of the cow bran idea! I’ll see if I can find some of that.
We spent a couple more hours in the garden yesterday afternoon. I planted the corn plants Rob grew in the greenhouse, and we covered them with some row covering I had. The birds are really bad and will pluck out the small plants to get the seed on the bottom. They also have been stealing green bean babies, so I stuck some more seeds down in the gaps, which there were many of. Once the corn starts get going good, we will remove the covering so they can grow.
I’m filling every inch of the garden again this year. It’s a bit like a huge raised bed. Last year, once it got going, we never had to till–things were so close, I just hoed in-between them. I put in a few more snow peas, and will fill the small area where some green onions didn’t come up with more lettuce. I love to succession plant and keep the food coming all summer long.
I’m not actually sure ‘Cow bran’ is an actual thing or just what the feed store called it. In any case, it came in a 50# sack and was really cheap as I remember.
I also read some where that if you line up copper pennies along the edge of your raised bed, with no gaps in the spacing between pennies, that the slugs won’t cross copper. Something along the lines of copper producing a little shock as the slugs slid along. Never tried that one though.
I do know that shallow dishes of beer work to attract the slugs, they’ll fall in trying to get to the beer and then drown. Pretty disgusting but effective.
I’ve tried the eggshells, and the beer before, but have never heard of the pennies or the cow bran. Great ideas!!!
I have never heard of the cow bran solution for slugs either. I usually don’t have problems with them unless I plant things too close together. Normally, it is too hot and dry here.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
It’s new to me as well, although I’ve tried most of the other remedies.