Busy week

We had some very welcome visitors last week. My parents and sister Meri came up for several days. I'll have to say that they are the most useful and helpful house guests a host could ask for. Mom and Dad kept themselves extremely busy, although I'm sure Dad would have preferred to spend his time listening to the online broadcast of a railroad scanner he found.
The major project was fixing up the yard. I wish I'd taken a before photo, because the change is remarkable. My little flower bed in front of the house was covered in gross plywood-mulch and a couple of boring bushes. The grass was at least a foot high in some places, even though I mowed less than 2 weeks ago. And the lawn hadn't seen a trimmer since we moved in 7 months ago. Thankfully, Dad bought one for us and gave me a quick tutorial. The flower bed now has edging, and makes me smile when I'm walking into the house from the car. (This is a new experience because I'm usually grimacing from carrying groceries, Joshua, a diaper bag, and trying to herd Caleb into the front door when I walk by.)
Dad also let Caleb help a lot, which Caleb loved. One of the reasons Kevin and I bought this old-school reel lawn mower was so that I could mow with Caleb around and not worry about cutting off a limb (his or mine). A side benefit is that he can actually be involved in the mowing, as seen below. Unfortunately, the grass is really high and when it is thick, it takes a forceful push, or three. After a few minutes of pushing, Caleb says, "It's too hard. You do it." He'll take a break for a few minutes and then ask to have another try.

My parents really do love each other, my father is just a funny guy.
I'll try to take a photo of the flowers soon, if I can just find the battery charger for my camera...