Oregon Strawberries...

There's really nothing like Oregon strawberries, and I know I'm not the only one that feels this way! When we were little we used to get so excited when the Little Red Barn would come out for the summer. Not only was it our first sign of summer days, it also meant delicious melt-in-your-mouth berries and homemade strawberry jam!!! Mmmm... delicious!

We've been to the barn a few times this summer and the berries were certainly delicious, but they aren't cheap! And, we sort of eat them fast! I've wanted to do some u-picking for the last few years, and was finally inspired when I read a friends post on FB about how she charged out into the fields with her 6 children (ages 3 mos. - 7ish?!?) and picked up a storm! I figured if she could do it, then I could probably drag my toddler and pregnant self out there and be somewhat successful as well! =)

Thankfully I have other friends just as ambitious as I am and thus the journey did not have to be forged alone! Ramie and Judson agreed to come along and I think we can all agree, although not the cleanest of things we've done together it was well worth every last berry... even the green and rotten ones the kids tried picking! ;)

For the record, she did not pick these berries she was just about to dig her little hands into my bucket for another berry!

This was probably only number 5... out of about 35...

Judson had just as much fun! He was quite the little worker too. He took the liberty of filling my bucket full of green and rotten berries for me when I went to grab the camera! ;)

Gotta love the bootie...

We attempted to have the flags be "off-limits", but that was a battle we just decided wasn't worth picking after a while... don't judge.

Burried in strawberries!

Love these two! And especially the dirty face! ;)

And the final outcome?

2 third-trimester pregnant ladies + 2 toddlers = a huge mess and 27 pounds of strawberries!

Hey, it was the perfect opportunity for a little photo-op, and at 85 cents/pound you really can't beat it! This giant tote full cost a little over $12.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do...

Is it raspberry season yet? =)

Gone Fishing

We just got back from a wonderful weekend camping with some good friends, the Moodys. And although we now have another gagillion pictures, I have done my best to limit this post, once again. ;) I'm hoping to post more of the kiddos playing together because they are pretty much too cute, but for now I've just dug through the photos of Madi's first fishing trip.

She got her very own fishing pole for her birthday from her Uncle Neal, Aunt Stacy, Riley and Cameron and she has been dying to go fishing ever since. I'm pretty sure she had no idea what that meant, other than the fact that she would be able to get her Barbie pole out of the package... but nonetheless, every time we talked about it she would do her latest jaw-drop-gasp that she has been practicing more and more to show evidence of her pure excitement! It's pretty priceless.

Speaking of priceless, so are these pictures...

It doesn't get much better than a Daddy and his girl.

I suppose you can throw in some beautiful scenery, pink and orange power bait, a Barbie fishing pole and it gets pretty cute.

... especially with a couple smiles!

I pretty much LOVE this picture. Does it not look like she could sit there all day long?!? And that's one proud Dad, isn't it?!?

Can you believe this guy used to tell me that if we ever had a daughter he'd try and push her back in?!?! A little graphic, I know. I'm sorry. Obviously he was only kidding. He welcomed her with open arms!

A little off-topic. Sorry! Back to fishing.

Her favorite part was winding the reel. The tongue always helps too! ;)

Mommy even got a chance to try. I mean, help Madi fish...

Don't let the innocent look fool you!

And finally, one of my faves! (Thanks, Ramie!)

Although Barbie has yet to work-her-magic and land us a big trout! She was still fun to give a spin! ;)

Until next time Breitenbush River!

In the meantime, please warm up, lose some water, and gain a few more fish,

because we'll. be.back!

Swings...

There are few things more enjoyable in life than flying through the air in a swing, at least for Madelyn. And quite frankly, I would probably have to agree with her. She LOVES to swing!!! "Baby swings" are the current preference because she can have "unner goggygoggies" in baby swings, but not in real swings quite yet. And yes, that would be an under-doggie to the rest of us!

Fair warning... there's a lot of pictures in this post. It's a little over the top. I'll admit it, but hey we really like our kid! And, although admittedly biased, we may think she's the cutest thing around... plus I was having fun with the camera! =)

I love her curls in this picture!

Not sure what was going on with the smile here...

And yes, we push her high! That's probably why she enjoys swinging so much! ;) I'll admit, sometimes I envy her position in this bucket-like chair... oh what it's like to be a kid!

Hopefully you made it to the end! ;) I'll try not to be so repetitive next time. She's just too much fun! =)

Fashion-ista!

It's true. This girl has got some style!

I know I should probably take more credit (responsibility?!?) for this girl's attire sometimes. Okay, or maybe lack there-of, but it's just the way that it never seems to phase her that cracks me up! She loves what she loves and it doesn't seem to matter the place or the time, let alone the combination. We had a lazy morning (after a somewhat long night due to the first night in a "big girl bed") and we didn't think it was important to get new clothes on before we got right to work in the backyard with Daddy!

As a quick run down, Madelyn is still wearing her pajama shirt. She insisted on wearing "big girl undies" and preferred the leopard print today. When I asked if she wanted flip-flops so that she could go in the dirt with Daddy she requested her "Nike Shoes", and finally to top it all off her Dor-Dor garden gloves were a must-have for this dirty job! Regardless of whether or not they actually fit (or stay on).

She's an excellent "helper" and is always insisting on "elping Mama" or "elping Dada"...

As you can see, she's got plenty of all-business looks going for her!

Watch out!

This picture is pretty blurry because it was taken through the tomato cages, but her facial expression is priceless! I don't know where she gets it! ;)

Thank you Madelyn for your undivided help in the garden today! No plants were squished or accidentally pulled so I would call it a success! =)

Sunshine and Summertime...

I am so in love with summer. I realize it technically hasn't started yet, but for our family it has! We're still holding out for some warmer weather eventually...

But for now, we'll take what we get!

Matt was out of the house early this morning (before I was out of bed, which is impressive) for a basketball fundraiser at Elkhorn Golf Course and our house guest (sweet baby Crosby) was picked up bright and early by his Mama, so Madi and I had a day with a whole lot of nothin' planned. It was great. We cleaned up, did a few loads of laundry, ate some breakfast, got ready for the day and called our buddies Monica and Blake for a walking date! We were gone for almost two and half hours!!! We hit the strawberry stand (twice), went by Safeway (restroom break), stopped at a coffee stand for some delicious cold drinks, and finally headed to the park by the library, where we let Winston swim and played to our hearts content!!! Needless to say, it was almost 2:15 when we finally got back home and both babes had fallen fast asleep by the time we reached our street!

Madi elected to continue her nap for another two and half hours (until we finally decided to wake her up), and I continued my lazy day around the house...

Matt came home, put his leg up for a while and then we bar-b-qued early before he headed off to a basketball game. Madi and I elected to stay home as we know we'll have many opportunities to watch basketball this winter...

And besides, it was just too beautiful not to spend the evening in our backyard! We called our cousins to see if they could come play and Seven came speedily down on his trusty "Cars Movie" bike to spend the evening in his underpants in our backyard.

It was perfect.

I hadn't intended to swim, but we decided to clean the pool up while we were out back and it would have been just plain mean to tell the kids they couldn't strip down after we slaved away on killing off every last bit of winter-bacteria...

So after Seven insisted on calling him mom and telling her about how he forgot some important Green Lantern souvenir and that he needed to leave a pair of swim shorts here for the summer, I told him to just enjoy the evening in his skivvies...

And he did!

Madelyn's diaper and clothes weren't far behind and she insisted on being nakie, so I "edited" a few pictures that were just too cute to leave off. Obviously, I'm a little paranoid of being targeted for child-exploitation...

Please don't turn me in.

And yes, she's copying Seven as she runs and "jumps" into the pool just like him!

Except for this is what her "jump" looks like...

{I realize this picture is a little blurry, but it SO captures our sweet Madelyn...}

There really was no better way to spend our first Friday night of "summertime" than with a little backyard fun!

We missed you, Daddy!

(As you can see by the pictures ;)

Hopefully there will be many more "warm" summer nights.

And hopefully I haven't started something terrible with letting our first evening in the pool be a "nakie" one.

And hopefully no one plans on turning me in to child services.

And hopefully tomorrow's 30% chance of rain really means I'll still have to water the garden on my own! Thank you mother-nature, but I'll take over from here if that's alright! =)

**And clearly we didn't play quite hard enough, because I still hear a little girl talking to a dolly in the room next door. Sigh. We'll try harder next time.**