The Garden, the misfit and our favorite zoo animal

We finally got a garden plot in our little student housing community!!  We spent a week weeding because it looked like this:

And this was after we had already weeded most of the first half.  The previous gardeners had put in wonderful grow boxes with chicken wire in the bottom so we just had to get rid of a winter/fall's worth of weeds.  We hauled out 2 big piles of weeds using a tarp and planted tomatoes, zucchini, yellow crook-neck squash, garlic, bell pepper and cilantro.  The previous gardeners planted blackberries, strawberries, mint, roses and rosemary.  We are so excited!!  We still have 2 empty grow boxes but we don't know what to plant...any ideas?

We both have parents who garden/gardened but we're pretty clueless so we'll see if we reap any fruits of our labors. 

Eliza keeps us on our toes and smiling.  She is quite a character/misfit.  She likes to roll around on the floor or lay in a cozy corner while she is enjoying a snack.

She loves to go outside and walk really fast away from us and laugh as we chase her down.  She loves other little kids and stares at everyone (I am trying to teach her to say hi and wave instead of just staring.) 

On Friday I was trying to draw something and she kept pestering me and grabbing my paper and pencil so I gave her her own piece of paper and a crayon.  She colored on the paper for about 5 seconds and then wandered off with the crayon and this is what happened next....

(notice the red markings at her feet)

here she is standing over her crime with a mischievous grin.  Misfit. 

She also likes to get kisses (leans in when you pucker up or say kiss), read books, play peek-a-boo, eat and sleep. 

In April we also went to the zoo and gawked at our favorite bird, the harpy eagle.  This bird is by far the coolest bird on earth.  First of all, it is gigantic, weighing in at as much as 20 pounds, and it has these crazy feathers sticking up on top of its head that make it look like some sort of devil-may-care '80's rocker.  Its talons are also larger than a grizzly bear's claws and exert over 100 pounds of pressure, easily crushing its prey's bones.

 

It lives in the rain forests of Central/South America and hunts monkeys, deer, sloths, opossums, other birds and reptiles.  It has a broad 6 1/2 foot wingspan but it can maneuver very quickly and easily through the treetops snatching up unsuspecting monkeys.  His piercing eyes can spot a tiny mouse from 220 yards away (that's more than 2 football fields) and could reach that prey in seconds (not that it would bother with a little mouse).  I am just glad there is a fence between us. 

 Impressive, huh!