1.5 Evening Hours @ The Beach

It was a gorgeous day!  We headed to the beach after dinner and Ella was quite thrilled!  The weather was balmy with a slight breeze and Chase even dared to go barefoot!  Since the weather is getting warmer and the sun setting later, we're able to spend more and more time at the beach - which is quite lovely.  Today we were there for a little over an hour and a half!

Proof we were both there together!  Trying to get better at taking photos of ourselves and not just our dog.

Ella actually started swimming a bit in the water!!!!  I stood at the shore and Chase stood in the water a little ways in and it was just a little over Ella's ability to touch the ground...at first she'd turn around, but eventually she started swimming to get her ball.  Aw!  Also, she's a fierce swimmer!  Like really efficient and fast at it.  Who would have imagined.

Ella swimming out to Chase who just figured out that his shoes float.  

A thrilling event for both of them.

A super tired, but not quite convinced it's time to go home, puppy sits down at the entrance/exit to the beach.

Flower-tastrophy

After last night's thunderstorm...my poor flowers got a little flooded!

Looks like at the end of the season, we'll have to empty the dirt and line the bottom of the balcony box with some rocks so it can drain properly.  If you remember we've had this problem before...see this post.

West Loop Dog Park and a "Selfie"

While waiting for Chase, I took Ella to one of her favorite parks - The West Loop Dog Park on a particularly warm Sunday.  I tried to snap a cute photo of her, but she rushed the camera...so I like to imagine this is what it would look like if Ella took a selfie (the term for a totally vain photo you take of yourself with your phone).

1st Outdoor Patio of the Season

My parents came to town to see the Blackhawks game and treated us all to dinner at Wishbone afterwards!  The day was lovely, so we took Ella and dinned on the covered patio on some lovely southern style food!  Ella behaved quite well!  She's growing up.

Frost Free Day - 2013 Flower & Garden Planting

It was gardening day!  The safe planting last frost day arrived, so Leslie and I took a trip up to the gorgeous local garden shop and Greenhouse: Gethsemane.  After a planting hiatus for the past few summers (since I took show contracts I didn't want my plants to die in my absence), I was excited to get shopping and plant some goodies for this summer to enjoy!  Above, our cart at the end of our adventure...hard to believe it, but I actually under bought.  I could use just 2-3 more flowers for the balcony box as I came up a little short.

This year's balcony box features: three Begonia varieties, Calibrachoa hybrid "Superbells Dreamsicle," "Fiesta" Double Impateins, and some super cute Lemon Cypress.  They're like little bushy lemon scented trees!  Love them.  I think I might go grab a couple more of them to finish out the balcony box.

This year's color scheme is orange.  I wanted to try something different after doing random flowers in 2007, whites and pinks in 2008, tropical inspired pinks in 2009, reds in 2010, and random little things in 2011.

New this year: solar lights!  I LOVE them!  I grabbed these pretties at a suburban trip to Walmart.  I just popped them in this evening and they're already glowing!  It lends a sweet, homey touch to the balcony.  If you don't have solar lights, go get them!

I also potted lettuce, cilantro (because buying a whole freaking bunch when all you need is a tablespoon was sooo annoying), AND Strawberries!  Yes!  After chatting with the nice worker guy in the herb "department," I decided I could give it a go.  They're supposed to continually grow all summer and if they don't work, well they were only $6.99.  Check back later in the summer for a berry update.

And if you're wondering...here's what Leslie's balcony looks like: