The boys only have six more days of school! Even with school almost complete, the boys had projects and studying to do this weekend. We spent some time helping Erik complete a brochure about his recent trip to Pt. Reyes and Casey studied for a few big tests. The rest of the weekend we played outside. We enjoyed a long bike ride to the Fish Hatchery; the American River Bike Trail is so beautiful.

Unfortunately on Sunday night Casey noticed his shower was cold. We discovered that our water heater died. Pedar tried to repair it, but in the end we bought a new one, called a plumber and moved forward. The plumber arrived around 4:30 p.m. on Monday and we had hot water again by 5:45 p.m. Sweet relief. You don't know how much you miss hot water until it is gone.

Monday afternoon we were out front and Dottie rushed towards a spot on our front lawn. She found the remains of what looks like a small dog. Just a few feet from it was what we think to be coyote poop. We've had a few neighbors say that they have seen a few coyotes in the early morning and a few dead animals spread on front lawns. Dottie and Curly have a tiny dog door so they can come and go as they please all day long. I hope the coyotes don't visit our backyard.

We are reaching that time of year where it is too hot to plant and we just have to work hard at keeping everything alive. Our backyard has very little irrigation, so the only places we have plants is where Pedar has dug trenches or been able to install drip. We are hoping to work with someone this Fall to install more irrigation so we can landscape more of the yard. For now, I am trying to learn about succulents.

Hope everyone has a great week!