Two Flower Festivals and a Reunion!

Hi, everyone!
This is a blooming time, indoors and out! For Mothers Day, Uncle Steven’s family sent Grandma a do-it-yourself bouquet. I helped Grandma get it ready! First we had to unpack the flowers and the vase. Then I put the flower food in the vase and Grandma filled the vase with water. After that, we had to cut the ends of the flower stems so they would soak up the water and flower food.  There were so many roses that Grandma had to get out another vase to spread them out!  Helping Grandma with the bouquet was fun, but I was glad that Uncle David’s family had a bouquet delivered that was all put together!  Grandma loved the flowers!

There were blossoms outside, too!  The apple trees were in full bloom and our lilac started to blossom.  I could see the flower buds on our azaleas, too, even though they weren’t quite ready to open.  It even rained flower petals, when the crab apple tree blossoms fell during a rainstorm!

Grandpa decided it was time to deal with the big burrow in the window box planter, because Grandma will want to put impatiens there in a week or so.  He made a hardware cloth screen to fit under the planting soil, so animals couldn’t dig deep holes any more.  Grandma shoveled dirt out of the window box, then Grandpa and I cut the screen to fit.  Then I helped Grandma replace the soil deep enough to plant in.  The chipmunks and ground hogs have lots of other places to live in our yard and don’t need to make a home in the window box!

Grandma took me back to Highland Park for the Lilac Festival, so I could see my lilac friends in bloom.  That was last Wednesday — halfway through the festival — and some of the lilacs were still not fully in bloom!  I did get to say hello to most of my lilac friends.

After we looked at the lilacs, we walked along Reservoir Avenue to visit the tulip bed.  The cherry trees are in full bloom now, and the last bed of tulips is finally in bloom!  The buckeyes are beginning to bloom and the early azaleas are open among the dogwoods.

Last Thursday, we went to see Uncle David’s family.  This is the first visit to them ever that didn’t start at the Rochester airport!  Now that they have moved from Tokyo to Ottawa Canada, we can drive to see them!  We started after lunch and got to their new house before dinner time.  Original Lion-san was waiting to meet me!  Grandma brought along her Ginny dolls from when she was Karin’s age, and everybody helped dress them in different outfits.  Karin showed me how sunny the bedrooms are, then Bill and Karin showed me the video games they are playing.  We walked to Petit Bill’s Bistro for dinner and had lobster poutine!  Poutine is a favorite Canadian dish with French fries, gravy and cheese curds.  The version with lobster was gooey and yummy!

On Friday, Uncle David and Bill made a planting box for their back yard.  I got to help!  First they made a frame, then Uncle David cut the sod out of the lawn where the frame was supposed to go.  After that he put in planting soil and some shrubs.  Guess what?  One of them is a lilac!  There were lots of lilacs blooming along the sidewalks when we walked around Uncle David’s new neighborhood!

After lunch, Uncle David drove us around downtown Ottawa so we could see Parliament Hill.  Ottawa is the capital of Canada and it was a holiday weekend.  There were lots of people out walking everywhere!   Uncle David’s family lives so near the Ottawa River that they can walk there for a picnic!

Uncle David and Aunt Emi are still getting furniture for their house!  Karin and Bill made forts out of two of the furniture boxes and played a beanbag game between them!  After the game, I had a reunion with the rest of the Lion-san clan!

On Saturday, Uncle David’s family had a party to celebrate their new house.  I helped Grandma make goat cheese biscuits and a coffee cheese cake and Aunt Kara’s black bean appetizer.  There was lots of other food, too!  Even though it was rainy, Uncle David could grill on the balcony under the eaves.  When the rain stopped, all the children played with water balloons and a bubble machine in the back yard.  Then we all watched Coco in the home theater!

On Sunday morning, we all went to the Canadian Tulip Festival!  To get there, we parked at a friend’s house and walked through Patterson’s Creek Park to Bank Street.  There were lots of people out walking there!  So many people post notices on the utility poles on Bank Street that the poles are covered in staples!  Bank Street has lots of art on it, including tulip sculptures decorated different ways!

We walked up to Exhibition Way and the Ottawa Farmers Market.  Karin and Bill bought a roasted beef rib bone as a treat for Mocha, their dog.  There were at least two vendors selling pasties, which are Cornish meat pies.  I liked the toy cars at the Great British Pasty and Pie Company tent!

The morning had been a bit cloudy, but the sun came out when we reached the Canadian Tulip Festival trail.  We enjoyed all the beds of tulips in Olympic Gardens, Landsdowne Gardens and along the Rideau Canal as we walked back to where we were parked.

Karin got some new friends at a toy store on Bank Street during our walk.  I made sure to meet them when we got home!  After supper, Bill and Karin went out to play with their neighborhood friends until dark.  I’m glad they have made new friends in their new home!  It was nice they played in the neighbor’s back yard, where I could see them.

On Monday, we drove back to Fairport.  We said goodbye to Karin and Bill after lunch and were home for a late dinner.  Now that Uncle David’s family is so much closer, I hope we see each other more often!

Love,

Lion-san