I knew this would happen...

With the craziness of school starting the blogging is few and far between. :-(. Hopefully it will get better once I'm all nestled in the semester. Until then...

Check out these melons!

This year our garden has not done well and it might be the fact that we've had bigger and better things going on this summer...like having a baby. However, the plants that have survived and being fruitful is our Sweet Melon plant. We had one lone melon (until recently) and it is a biggin'! We finally cut it open tonight for dinner. It was sweet but a little bitter out towards the edge so even though we let it sit on the vine a couple of weeks after we thought it needed to be picked, it still could have used more time. This is the first time we have grown sweet melons, although we have grown cantaloupe and watermelon with somewhat success. :-)
Here are some things you may or may not know about melons...
*They grow in a wide variety of geographical areas making them easy to grow and have a long growing season.
*There are two categories of melons - watermelons and muskmelon (which includes all melons that aren't watermelons.)
*Because of their thin cell walls, melons don't preserve well.
*The secret to picking a good watermelon is not necessarily by thumping it but by choosing the melon that has a "white belly" on one side. This indicates that the melon was allowed to ripen on the vine and should be sweet.
*When growing melons, be sure to rotate them so that only one side isn't on the ground the entire time. This will cause the melon to rot or the bugs to eat it before you get to it.
*To increase the produce coming from your plant, cut off some of those little yellow flowers that emerge from the plant. All of the nutrients will go to those flowers rather than growing fruit. And while those yellow flowers are lovely - that's not the point of planting a melon plant!
*Nutritionally melons are a good source of carbohydrates, fiber, vitamin C, and vitamin A. In fact, a serving of fresh watermelon is the best source of lycopene! Lycopene is an antioxidant that is responsible for the red pigment you find in foods such as watermelon and tomatoes. It helps keep your eyes healthy but don't eat too much - it might make your skin turn orange! (No worries, just lay off the orange and red veggies/fruits for a couple of days.)

One of the prettiest spots in Springfield.

We like free entertainment, right!?! If you haven't been to the Jordan Valley Fountain yet put it on your to-do-list! It is a must see! It's open for the public to come wade in the "creek" or run through the fountain; it has a walking trail and a beautiful place for a picnic. Every time we have visited it hasn't been crowded but other people tell me that isn't always the case. :-)
Oh, and did I mention it is FREE!!!

Not a free weekend, but certainly a fun one!

This summer has been loaded with fun and we have definitely tried to keep it cheap...until this weekend. The Ozark Empire Fair with Tractor Pulls and Silver Dollar City does not equal cheap. The fair is, well you know, not cheap and gets even more expensive with kids. But, it was fun. :-). And besides, the chocolate milk Jey is drinking in the picture was free! Thank you, Hilland Dairy!

For the second weekend in a row we took advantage of Silver Dollar City's Moonlight Madness. SDC is so much more fun with kids; last week we went with our nephews and this week with our niece and cousins. We do get SDC passes for Christmas, which we LOVE, so this does make for cheap entertainment. Although not free because who can go to SDC without an Arctic Lemonade and a trip to the candy store?

One of my favorite summer treats.

Last year my garden would NOT stop growing cucumbers so after my nephew and I made pickles a couple of times we still had to get creative with the leftovers. My sister likes cucumber in water so I thought I would give it a try. It's SO REFRESHING! This year, I didn't plant any cucumbers but my best friend's garden grew enough for the both of us! Thank you, Amber, for the pickles AND big bag of cucumbers so I can enjoy this summer treat!

Blogging when I should be working...

I bought the app for my phone that will allow me to upload pictures to my blog. Let's see how this goes....

Test 1, 2, Test 1, 2, 3

I don't spend a lot of time on my computer anymore now that I have two kiddos but still have really good intentions to blog. So, I found an app that will allow me to blog from my phone. However, it doesn't get good reviews so let's see how this works....