Chromilo Amin

The end of summer is fast approaching but don't let that stop you from making one last trek down south of the border with the family before we all start donning clothes from our fall wardrobe. Head down during the week instead of the weekend for less lineups at the border crossings and at the zoos. It's also cheaper in terms of accommodation. Here is a transcript of our latest adventure. Fun Center at Tukwilla This is our second time at this facility and it's always a good time for the kids. There are arcade games indoors and fair rides outdoors. We drove the race kart twice around the track (once for each kid), did the trampoline, and sailed around in a rubber dingy with water guns on them. In the arcades, kids accumulated about 288 tickets, from winning games and by contribution from a couple who didn't care about redeeming the tickets for prizes. Kids were able to redeem about 4 different toys each with this number of tickets. The Inn at Gig Harbor We looked...

I noticed earlier in the year that some of the leaves in my pear tree was limp and most were starting to turn black, like someone had been playing a prank and setting the tips on fire. I noticed these green diamond-shaped bugs (aphids) on the tip of most of the leaves and I correctly figured out that those were responsible for my sick tree. I also noticed there were a lot of ants going up/down the tree trunk. I sprayed the leaves with a strong stream of water and manually removed some by hand. This however didn't fix the problem. I talked to Richard, a friend of ours who owned his own landscaping and gardening business. He said that I should apply diluted dishwater soap in a spray bottle and spray the leaves with aphids on them, manually scraping off the aphids with my fingers. He also suggested stopping the ants from gong up and down the tree by applying some type of glue close to the base of the tree, but ensure the substance doesn't get to the bark by first wrapping the...