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A cherry picking family record

Posted on July 12, 2010 8:51 pm by TheAngelForever

If you have never been cherry picking, I urge you to go. Even if you are not a fan of cherries, the experience is well worth it. Two years ago, we went cherry picking with my brother and his family. When we tried to go last year, it did not work out. The crop was late and we were out of luck. This year, we watched carefully and planned the weekend to go.

Two years ago, we had four adults, an almost five year old, just one year old and 10 month old with us. This time we had six adults (Nana and Papa joined us), an almost seven year old, just three year old, almost three year old and four and a half month old. Having two extra adults was a blessing. This year, we went to a new pick your own cherry location called Singer Farms. Our first impression was not the best thanks to too many people swarming and too little parking. After we got over trying to find a spot in weeds that were taller than our little car, we got situated. JSL was sleeping after the pre-cherry picking fiasco and so was the baby. Everyone else went over to get buckets to collect cherries.

When we got to the orchard, it was amazing. The trees were overloaded with tons of cherries. For as far as the eye could see, there were trees filled with different types of cherries. We stuck with the sweet cherries. As we were getting settled, JSL woke up and joined the picking crew. Nana helped the little kids some, but was also in charge of pushing sleeping BA around in his stroller.

The cherries were absolutely amazing. Each time we were ready to stop, more sucked us in. It was like ADD of the cherry kind "Oh look . . . pretty cherry!" Finally, after just under an hour, we decided that we had more than enough to feed all of us and many others. We carried our precious cargo back to get weighed so we could pay for them.

We mainly picked two kinds of sweet cherries. One was similar to a bing (or may have been) and the other looked like a rainer cherry. Those were definitely a fan favorite. They have a yellow hue to them and when you bite inside the flesh is light colored. The interesting part, they taste like a peach – without the annoying fuzz outside.

If you read my Tweets from our adventure, you know how many pounds we had. If not, what do you think?

I will end the suspense. We picked 33 pounds of cherry goodness. That beat our record of just over 22 pounds! We ate a lot of them Saturday throughout the day and Sunday morning. Then, we divided them up. We took about half of them home to share with others. Tonight, when the kids are in bed, there is a bowl of cherries with my name on it!

Thank you to Uncle I, Aunt M, Nana, Papa, SG and my boys for a wonderful experience with my extended family.

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cousins family food glorious food fun interesting jl jsl nhl photos road trip summer weekend yummy

Picking fresh fruit

Posted on July 9, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

During the summer, we often think about going to pick fruit in fields to eat fresh. My family does this since it is a great activity that we can all do together and have fun. My favorite is definitely cherry picking. While visiting my brother and his family we found a place that has mini-cherry trees that were perfect for picking.

When we were finished, we had over 22 pounds of cherries! Seems like a lot, but they were oh so delicious and managed to get eaten up by all of us and others that we gave them to.

This year, we had hoped to get to strawberry picking, but other commitments did not allow for this. We have done it in the past.

Although I love strawberries, I am not a huge fan of picking them. Do not like getting down into the dirt with the bugs. It is also harder for the kids to grab them since they are so easy to squish.

Fun in the fruit fields is not limited to the summer, we also enjoy apple picking in the fall. This past year, we went apple picking for the first time with the boys and had a wonderful adventure.

When we were finished, we had over 35 pounds of apples to eat, share, bake and make into different items.

With any luck, we should be going cherry picking again soon. Can not wait to see how the little kids do this time since they were in strollers on the last trip. This week’s question is inspired by all of the fruit picking adventures:

Do you go fruit picking with your family? If you do, what is your favorite item to get? If you have never gone, what do you wish you could go to pick fresh from the field?

BTW – Be sure to stop by and enter my Simply Go-Gurt Giveaway pack that ends on 7/14.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #107

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4th of July Wishes – 2010

Posted on July 4, 2010 9:34 am by TheAngelForever

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fun holidays jl jsl my boys nhl photos weekend

Periscopes and parks

Posted on July 3, 2010 4:34 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

This morning, we went to meet Papa at Home Depot for their free kids clinic. We thought that you might enjoy making the periscopes. Of course, it was fun listening to both of you try to say what you were making and later on made. NHL you kept trying to call it a kaleidoscope, but it sounded more like a tropical disease (at least that’s what Daddy thought). It was a really quick and easy item to make and the two of you really liked them. You were testing them out before we left and kept busy in the car exploring new ways to use them.

After we were done, we left Home Depot and went to find a new park that we had heard about. The park has a spray area, playground, tennis courts, HUGE field with several baseball diamonds and more. All three of my boys had fun exploring and getting some energy out before it hit 90 degrees. JSL, you absolutely adore the swings. Once we put you in, you were singing Twinkle Twinkle and had no cares in the world.

NHL had fun climbing on different items and even Daddy had fun showing how high he could fly in his own swing.

Before we left, we went over to the empty baseball diamond. NHL wanted to run the bases. The first time around, the three of you ran. Most of the time, JSL was in the rear going as fast as his little legs would take him. When I realized that my camera goofed and did not capture the original video, you all opted to go again. Here is your second trip around the bases for your own version of a home run.

After a nice lunch out, we settled back at home to cool off. Maybe tomorrow we will pull out our little pool to enjoy before going to see TJ (Christina and Tom too) for 4th of July dinner at their place. Let’s just make sure this time we do not have as much excitement as last time.

Love,

Mommy

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Sea lions and asthma weekend

Posted on June 27, 2010 10:11 pm by TheAngelForever

Nothing like spending the night of your 9th anniversary on the road with your kids (please note the extreme sarcasm here). That is exactly what we were doing Thursday evening on our way to a long weekend with my in-laws. Not that I have anything against my in-laws, but the road from here to there is a bit nerve wracking to say the least. You see, travel from here to there requires driving through roads that border the Bronx and other parts of New York City, and going over two large bridges. By the time we arrived at the Long Island Expressway, I was curled up in a fetal position with my eyes closed and sprouting new gray hairs by the minute. My biggest mistake of the trip was opening my eyes at one point when TechyDad yelled out "Holy Cow!" Let’s just say that NYC drivers are rather daring to say the least. Luckily, we arrived safely and got the kids into bed.

Friday morning, we all headed out to the Atlantis Aquarium. We had been there before when NHL was three (JSL’s age) and so much had changed. The boys had a lot of fun exploring things, but both really loved the sea lion show.

Those were a few of the pictures that I took with my camera. TechyDad took many more of the show, the kids and inside and out of the aquarium. No doubt he will be sharing them and the video of the sea lion doing her dance coming soon.

We had a very nice visit with my in-laws. I did not enjoy myself as much as I could have thanks to my asthma. Usually, I have issues there because of their dog. Lacey has passed away and I actually went there having lung issues. After my sinus infection came and went at my cousin’s wedding, my asthma really kicked into high gear. This seems to be something that happens with any small illness since I had the flu in October. It is safe to say that my rescue inhaler has become my best friend since I realized the cough was really my airways being constricted and needed to be opened from an asthma attack. The heat and humidity outside and even inside really made it difficult to breathe and sleep.This week I am hoping to call my allergy/asthma doctor to get an appointment. Obviously, I need some help getting my lungs up to speed and maintaining them if I get a cold or something else.

On that note, I am off to rest in my nice cool room and enjoy the AC that is making it a bit easier to breathe at the moment. More photos and items to share coming soon.