Sweet strawberries and lots of pictures

Saturday we went strawberry picking. In New York, it seemed like Pick-Your-Own strawberry joints were every few miles. Here? We have to travel about 30 miles and leave the state just to get to the closest one. But we did. And it was a fun time. Full of red stains, busy mouths and smooshed berries.

Afterwards, since we were so close, we took an impromptu trip to Six Flags. The kids spent alot of time in the tiny houses. Again....fun.

Lest I make it look like every day we have is just full to the brim with fun and excitement, let me assure you we have our boring days as well. They just aren't interesting enough to blog about. Today, we laid around while the kids played (the current game is Harry Potter Wrestling). Mike mowed and I made dinner. I also napped but if you ask me...? You can't get much more fun that that.

Note to self - charge camera battery prior to leaving for trip

For Father's Day, my wonderful husband wanted to go to Six Flags New England in Mass. So off we went. We surprised the kidlets with camping over night nearby. It took some planning and we managed to keep it a surprise even while driving around the campsite looking for our tent site. When we finally broke the news, Eli spent the next hour or two saying, "OH! So THAT'S why you (brought matches, packed our pillows, brought us here to this KOA ground, etc.)

Afterwards we went to Six Flags. It rained a bit and we got to see the most amazing rainbow. The pictures do not do it justice. The colors were brilliant and it was a full rainbow, from one end to the other. It was also a DOUBLE rainbow. You don't see that too often.

We went out to eat and headed back to our tent. What is it with kids and tenting? They just think it's the most fabulous thing in the world. Meanwhile, I'm laying there while everyone else is asleep, having panic attacks about someone slashing our tent and attacking us. Do I have anxiety issues, you ask? Why, yes I do!.

The next day, we decided to drive another hour or so to the shore. We went to a beach in Connecticut and the kiddos just had a blast playing in the sand, collecting seashells, and splashing in the water. The beach had a great playground and sprayground as well as a beautiful lighthouse. Of course, at this fantastic photo opportunity, the batteries in my camera died.

Saturday Fun

Last Saturday, our town had a Bike Safety Day. It included some cute ways for the kids to learn how to be safe on their bikes as well as a free lunch and free helmets. The girls got their faces (and arms) painted.

Charlotte's showed just how much of a dichotomy her personality really is:

Lucy got a cute little duck on her cheek but the woman who did the painting wanted to paint a rose on her arm that would match her dress. And it truly did! Lucy pointed to it all day. She was so proud of it.

Afterwards, we went to the local art museum to see Eli's own work of art. Every year they have a show of local childrens' art. Elijah's class did a large painting of the art museum, with each of them in charge of one small section. All of us tried to guess which painting was Eli's. He's so hard on his artistic abilities, claiming he hates to draw because he's no good at it. So, while I did recognize one painting as the best of the bunch, I was sure it wasn't his and picked another. Guess which one was his? The best of the bunch! I was surprised and actually slightly annoyed. The boy is way too hard on himself. He has a real talent and none of us knew. If only he could be more self-assured and worry less about perfection, I think art could be a real passion for him.

The first photo is the whole project. The second is a close up of Eli's piece. The third photo is Lucy point to her favorite piece in the show. I thought, "Wow! She's showing interest in art!" Then she said, "Me. I did it." She thought it was her drawing. :)

Chuck E Cheese

and other random items...

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to Chuck E Cheese. The kids always have so much fun there. They can run around and play games as they please.

Once when Eli was maybe 2, while we were playing there, our shy little guy built up the nerve to go up to Chuck E Cheese himself and get a hug. As a first time mom, my heart was just bursting with pride. He was overcoming some really big issues with shyness and strangers! He waited patiently behind the guy in the giant costume. And then.....! Chuck took a few steps backward, knocked Eli flat on his bottom, and walked away without even noticing the poor kid. Oh, my heart was practically broken!

No such catastrophe happened this time.

Since the weather has been so beautiful, we've put the kids to work.

Here's a photo of the girls this morning. These two love each other so darn much. Even right now, Lucy is going on and on about "Charzy" in the photo right above this. She's the first thing Lucy mentions when she wakes up in the morning. And Charlotte is so sweet to her.

Look at those long legs! And the cute chubby ones too!

So sappy

This is Maple Syrup Weekend here and our neighbors tipped us off about a great deal on syrup at a nearby Sugar House. So we piled everyone into the car on a dreary, rainy day and took a trip.

Unfortunately, the directions were somewhat vague and Sugar Houses are about every 1/5 of a mile around here. We thought we had the right place so we went inside, said our hello's, ate our fair share of free maple walnut muffins and free samples of hot syrup only to find out that we had the wrong Sugar House. That was awkward. "So....thanks for all the free food. We're off to your competitor's business to spend our money. Bye!"

Then we drove....and drove....and drove. We just couldn't seem to find the right place. Turns out we passed it several times and it was only a few miles from our house. We had a blast laughing about it though. Especially when we were nearly stranded due to lack of gas. And we did score a gallon of sweet, sweet syrup for only $34.

We're continuing on with our cleaning/decluttering. Saturday was GORGEOUS here. Warm and sunny. So we completely cleaned out the backyard. We raked the yard clear of debris, took care of the logs that need to be split, and cleaned out the shed. We got rid of alot of stuff and organized what we kept. When our backyard is clean, it's the perfect yard. Not too big, not too small (Just the size of Montreal. Ha! We used to say that all the time when we were little). It's fenced in so the kids can play out there safely. I'm psyched for the spring weather because the little ones love being out there.

We also cleaned out Charlotte's room today. We mostly cleaned out clothes she had outgrown. There really wasn't an excess of toys. It turns out that her room was so messy because she takes so. much. trash. into that room. Rocks, twigs, small scraps of paper, and on and on. It looks so sweet now, like a magazine photo of a little girl's room. The only room left to complete is Lucy's room and then the upstairs is finished. Soon we'll paint their rooms.

Funny comment of the week: While cleaning out the backyard, Charlotte was playing with the toy tractor. She commented, "Wow. Look at this gashole!" Guess what we thought she said.