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A fun afternoon with water

Posted on July 17, 2010 10:29 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

We had a pretty good week. NHL really enjoyed camp, and JSL and I found things to do most days while you were away. Thursday, JSL and I went out in the morning. We were on a mission. We had to find some inexpensive paint brushes to use for water play. Someone had suggested that we get them for painting with water on the driveway. It seemed like a great activity for the two of you.

After picking NHL up from camp Thursday afternoon, JSL was roaring to go and paint with water. Thanks to a nap, you had lots of energy to go into the 90 degree heat. Lucky for you, NHL was willing to go outside again. We went inside to put sunscreen on everyone and got our supplies. Since I could not haul out your swimming pool, I found a bucket to use with the paint brushes.

Within seconds of putting it out, the two of you were experimenting. At first, you were curious about painting with the water on the driveway.

Then it got a little more interesting when one of you realized that you would fling water at the other with brushes. Of course, then you also noted you could paint one another with them as well.

The sun was really getting warm and I told you to try putting your feet in the water bucket to get cooler. By this point, I had put my camera away and using only my cell phone to take photos.

From this point on, the camera and cell phone went away. When I went to get more water in the bucket, I changed things up a little. I surprised JSL and tossed a bucket full of water all over his legs. He liked it a lot. NHL, by the time you arrived on the scene I had the hose working. You were the lucky recipient of this. We played by the hose for another 15-20 minutes laughing and giggling up a storm. By the time we were done, two of us were soaked from head to toe and the other close behind. At this point, we packed up and went inside for a little something different. It was time to soak in the tub for a while and use some soap and shampoo.

Thank you both for memories that I will always remember. I hope that we can do this again a few more times before the end of the summer.

Love,

Mommy

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brothers Dear Kid Saturday fun jsl nhl photos play time summer

Disappearing Buzz Lightyear

Posted on July 14, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Categories:
Disney jsl Wordless Wednesday

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.

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

Cousins, museum, cherries, pirates and more

Posted on July 11, 2010 11:11 pm by TheAngelForever

This weekend, I was a little busy. Thursday night, we went to visit my brother and his family out in western NY. We arrived rather late that night and my niece SG was sleeping. Thanks to this, the kids saw her at breakfast the next morning. Here, they bonded over cereal while we planned what to do on the rainy day since cherry picking was out.

We eventually made our way to the Buffalo Museum of Science. They had a new dinosaur exhibit that we thought the kids would love. Here is a preview of our time there:

When we got home, it was time for Uncle I to go to work for a little while. The kids played and even baby BA enjoyed tummy time fun with a little help from the bigger kids.

Saturday morning, Nana and Papa came to join us. As we started our journey to the cherry picking place, we had to stop and go back home. JSL decided to add some fun and excitement to the day. He was drinking water, started to gag – and well let’s just say he needed a change of clothing. We made our way to the cherry orchard and all you could see were trees chock full of cherries of all kinds. They were gorgeous. Before we knew it, we had picked a LOT of cherries. More about that coming soon. Here are a few photos of the cherry picking group and our delicious finds.

After this, we wandered at a Pirate Festival by Lake Ontario.

The views were gorgeous and the kids even enjoyed looking at the water below.

Once we had lunch, we wandered back to the house. The kids played outside for a while, we all had dinner and then it was time for bed. Sunday, we stayed until after lunch and then it was time to head home. It really was sad to say goodbye to Uncle I, Aunt M, SG and BA. We had a wonderful weekend with my brother and his family. The kids had so much fun together we can not wait to see them again.

Categories:
cousins family food glorious food jsl nhl photos road trip 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.