Blueberries

 We went blueberry picking on my birthday! They were a little picked over but we were still able to get lots in a reasonable amount of time. We were there about an hour and half and I got 30 pounds plus Noni got some too. 

Lou was actually pretty good at picking. Unfortunately she was also good at spilling. :P She spilled her bucket at least five times and we sat there picking them out of the grass. 

But she had a grand old time and ate a lot of blueberries so I guess she had a successful morning. Haha.

  

Peaches was a great picker this year! 

The big girls did great as usual. They picked over a bucket each.

 

 

It was fun to have Aunt K there to pick with us! 

 

 

Looking at this picture...maybe Noni was the one who helped Peaches fill her bucket. Haha.

 

 

Peanut picked for her friend's family. We do a little berry exchange with them each year. They have strawberries and raspberries in their garden so we pick them blueberries and they share their berries with us. :)

I think Bug picked two full buckets!

 

 

As we were leaving I realized that Peaches had been stuffing her shorts pockets with blueberries. They were a little....squished. Haha.

 

 

We went out to lunch after picking. Daddy met us there. 

 

 

I always enjoy not having to cook on my birthday. :)

 

 

I went home and processed all our blueberries...we have lots of muffins in our future! :)

 

 

 

That afternoon T helped me with a project I've been wanting to do...literally since we moved in. I bought a big map poster and was going to try to hang it but it didn't look too good so T came up with a clever plan to contact cement it to a piece of wood leftover from our bathroom.  I looked and looked for alphabet posters and couldn't find them for less than $40 a piece. That seemed kind of ridiculous for a poster and I needed two so I ended up using two other pieces of leftover wood, plus some leftover spray paint and made them myself. T cut me some trim pieces out of scraps and we attached rope hangers from the Dollar Store that I had leftover from a different project. All I had to buy for the project was the $20 map and $10 worth of chalk markers!

 

  

 

I LOVE how it turned out!! It was exactly what I wanted! We got the clock from Ikea and I spray painted it black to look more like an old fashioned school clock. I'm so happy with it all! The perfect birthday present! 

Party Time!

 A few weeks ago we were invited to two birthday parties within a couple days of each other. The first was a lake party, and you know how much these girls love lake days!

 

 

They had a blast.

 

 

And the special treats and party favors made it that much better!

 

 

The second party was at the trampoline park. It was a Saturday so Daddy was able to come with us. He was pushing the girls on the swing and they were getting some crazy air time!

 

 

There were a whole bunch of us so the girls had lots of friends!

 

 

 

After jumping we went across the street to a park and had pizza and cupcakes. This was a boy's party and the presents were things that are quite foreign to us: mainly Nerf guns and tactical gear. We had no idea what to get so he got a gift card to Amazon. Lol.

 

 

This is such a great group of teenagers! They are so sweet and responsible, but still manage to have a ton of fun together!

 

 

We are thankful for good friends in our girls' lives!

 

 

Lou was just there for the cupcakes. :)

 

 

Daddy had to go meet Grandpa with the pickup so we had two cars that day. The older girls all went with him and Lou and I headed home for naps. She was totally slap happy on the way home and using her shoe to play peek-a-boo!

 

 

Hooray for summer birthdays!

Family Reunion - Goodbyes

 We had so much fun with the family, puzzling, playing cards, and just visiting! It was hard to see them go. 

 

 

Their last day was also Uncle S's birthday! Since we'd accidentally made the grandparents stay out til 11:30 the night before (we really didn't mean to leave to so late, haha) we had a birthday breakfast at Noni's at 8:30 the next morning, instead of the planned 8am. Noni went all out and did biscuits and gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage, and all kinds of fruit. We sang to Uncle S with a candle in his biscuit. :)

 

The cousins worked a few puzzles and read some books together.

 Uncle S opened a few presents.

 

 

And Peaches wanted another picture with him. :) 

 We said our goodbyes to the Florida clan, and then Uncle S and Auntie J had to head to the airport. It was sad to say goodbye, but we were so thankful for the wonderful week we had with them!

 

 

We stayed and played cards with Mama until Noni and Aunt K got back from the airport, and then headed home. Thankfully Aunt K got to stay a few extra days! These pictures are out of order because she was here for my birthday and our anniversary, but I'll go ahead and put them here anyway. 

 

Bug left for camp that week so she had to say goodbye after church. She is very proud that she's almost as tall as Aunt K! She measures herself against me at least once a week. :P

These pictures are from Aunt K's last night which was two days later.

 

 

We are loving these hot summer nights! So pretty!

 

 

Of course Boo had to get a selfie with Aunt K. Haha. 

 

 

Lou wanted a picture too!

 

 

Lou had a long/late nap that day so we stayed up way too late playing games and having fun. We are so thankful for the time we had with the family! 

Family Reunion - Park and Date Night

 Wednesday we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to the park. The girls love to ride the carousel so we got them day passes. They got their use out of them and rode it 6 or 7 times. Peanut kept running off to find the perfect horse so I never got a picture of her, but here are the others. :)

 

 

Lou was SO excited and kept saying, "I ride horsey! Go up and down!" 

 After a couple rounds of the carousel we walked around a bit and found a new playground had been built!

 

 

Not quite a traditional merry-go-round!

 

 

It had all sorts of unique and fun equipment!

This boat rocked back and forth.

 

 

And this was like a kid conveyor belt that rolled them along. 

 

 

 

After walking around a bit more we took a few more spins on the carousel.

Then we walked down to a local restaurant for a late lunch.

 

 

Peaches tried to teach Cousin S how to patty cake. :P

 

 

She LOVED Uncle S and wanted to hang out with him as much as possible!

 

 

It was waaaay past naptime at this point but we had promised everyone we would hit Sonic on the way back to Noni's. This is the "vanilla cone" off the value menu! It was enormous! I ended up wiping most of it away before it made a huge mess. Lou looks like she's in heaven. 

 

 But I think it was really just exhaustion. Haha.

 

 

We took the kids back to the house and played a game with Mama. An hour later the 3rd generation headed out. The 2nd generation gave the 4th for dinner, played, and went and put them to bed back at our house. 

 

We got to go on a date night! We met up with A & O who know all the cousins from Texas and had a wonderful time going out to an Italian dinner, walking the boardwalk in the sunset, and then getting handmade ice cream from a local shop!  P.S. The wind kept billowing my shirt up, I promise it's Auntie K who is the pregnant one, not me. Haha!

 

 

We took an almost-anniversary picture together, knowing we wouldn't likely get one on our actual anniversary a few days later. :) 

 SUCH a fun night!! Thank you Noni, Aunt K, Uncle K, and Aunt J for taking care of all the kiddos!!! Sorry we made you stay up till midnight! Haha.