yesterday
yesterday is a very American Memorial Day Weekend sort of way I spent the day with my family doing a variety of domestic American sort of things

a good part of the day was spent in the garden...
as much as I enjoy the simple pleasures of gardening
my hobby of choice is cycling not gardening
the same goes for home improvement
although I enjoy home improvement and gardening projects
such things are are hobbies for people's hobbies are home improvements and gardening projects
again... my hobby is cycling, well, my main hobby is cycling
that is not to say that I do not have other hobbies... I have many hobbies
(all things family and father... then cycling, hiking, snowboarding.... the list goes on)
sure I get pleasure from working in the garden
the wonder of seeing a plant grow and give fruit is magical
but not as magical for me as rolling through the woods on a mountainbike

dean and made a cross town jaunt to Home Depot
the experience was not entirely dissimilar to a trip to the grocery store
dean was inside, outside, all over the cart
such is par for the course of a sub four year old out shopping
we bought an assortment of plants.... more herbs and vegetables than shrubs and flowers
back cross town

then some shoveling and planting in the garden

we loaded up the car and headed over to my dad's for a dip in the pool
the ambient temperature was not summer hot.... it was glorious spring cool
lucky for us the pool is heated for the early and late season experience

we arrived to be greeted by my brother and his family
marc's older son was already in the water
it is tough to slow Dean down... he wanted to join his cousin immediately
but he was clothed
we needed to get him to change and put on a lifejacket
once changed he was in the water
once in the water it was tough to get him out
both cousin eric and dean were shivering with blue lips, but were having too much fun to exit

also within the pool experience
Grant has a new level of understanding and experience
as with many young children his is a master of monkey-see-monkey-do
having seen Dean and Eric leap off the diving board
Grant had to have a piece of the action
so we suited him up with a swimmy (a diaper for the pool) and a life jacket
toddling at 14 months Grant climbed up on the diving board and made a mad dash
with me right behind him I took his hand and dropped him off the board and dipped him in the water like a human tea bag
we repeated the process
he loved jumping off the board more than being in the water
over and over I repeated this process until my broken finger could not take his grip any longer
with Grant wet we went into the pool for some water baby experience

a good time shared by all

the boys love the pool
good clean fun
heavily clorinated fun