So Many Discoveries

Since moving here we have been discovering so many things that weren't in California.  We've been going to the beach every other day and there are a lot of shells- clams, mussels, little ones, big ones, black, yellow, red, white, grey ones, and Jessica has even found rocks with shell imprints in them- fossils!  (So far no shark teeth have shown up.)  We've been to the library, which was originally a small red brick bank, but is now a very small library with a great children's section and a fun summer reading program.  In our own backyard there are lots of things we've discovered.  We've dug and planted a garden around our back porch.  So far nothing has come up, but that is ok.  There are lots of crickets, beetles, spiders, and frogs drawn to the bare earth.  So far we have found five frogs, and many of them have been put in our old fish bowl for observation before being released.  The spiders here range from tiny jumping ones to big crawly ones.  There are also a lot of green/brown spiders with a neon smiley face were the hour glass is on a black widow.  It sounds funny, but it is true.  There are lots of iridescent beetles, as well as drab ones and ones with funny antenna.  The bugs here are also really loud!  And there are a lot of fireflies that put on a light show every night at sunset.  The butterflies are also very pretty.  There are just as many plants here as bugs.  Everyone takes care of their yard- even if the house itself looks deserted, which we thought was interesting until we discovered why.  If you don't keep the lawn mower and weed whackers busy the natural plants will literally take over very very quickly.  Luckily we've got a lawn mower and mom is beginning to mow down the brush to give us a bigger yar.  As we drive around we see lots of gardens (that's why we planted one) and lots of corn, which we decided to plant.  We've also noticed a lot of hydrangeas, almost all houses have a bush or two of them.   They're big bunches of flowers that grow on big bushes.  They flowers come in all sorts of pastel colors, the most common being baby blue, but there is also a purple, maroon, and lots of shades of blue.  Mom says they look like Shrek flowers, but said the maroon ones look ok. 
Right now mom is making Hannah's late-birthday lunch.  Hannah and mom are sharing a birthday.  Happy Birthday mom and Hannah!