Happy

Weekend Highlights...
~ Getting a massage
~ Playing and swimming with friends at their pool
~ Teaching my kids how to play Norwegian Poker
~ Bubbles (from Auntie Katie)
~ Katie coming out and helping us make these muffins- SO good
~ Katie staying after the kids were asleep for a glass of wine
~ The sun coming out almost all weekend despite the (horrible) weather predictions
~ So much time in the garden
~ Grace "babysitting" Nora
~ Sprinklers
~ Grilling at the beach
~ Watching this documentary with Ryan
~ Everybody in a good mood ALL weekend (this never happens

Strawberry Picking

When I read the forecast for today I knew we just had to go berry picking.  It was cool, in the 60's, with an overcast of clouds.  No bugs.  It was perfect berry picking weather (completely opposite of our hot day last year).  Grace and Jackson were serious about their picking, both hardly stopping to taste any as they worked to fill their baskets.  Though after an hour Jackson decided that Nora's idea of berry picking was much more appealing and he surrendered his basket and laid down in the field to join her in a berry feast.  

This past winter I managed to ween us off of out of season berries.  It was a big step for us/me.  To get our berry fix all winter I started buying (Minnesota grown) frozen berries.  We got in the habit of using them for smoothies, in yogurt, or just eating them plan.  We ended up going through a lot of frozen berries so one of my strawberry picking goals this year was to try and get us through the winter with our own hand picked berries.  So far I have froze 19 bags of berries (with piles left over to eat and make jam with).  I am feeling pretty good about that.  The farm we pick at also has late summer strawberries so we'll even get one more chance to pick.

Weekend Highlights

~ Enjoyed radishes, lettuce and kale from the garden everyday
~ Spending the majority of the weekend in the garden with the whole family
~ Going to our friend's Summer Solstice party (where the kids ran threw sprinklers, jumped on the trampoline and ate way too many treats)
~ Started working on Jackson's quilt (it was the first time I've used my sewing machine since Christmas, I missed it)
~ Captured the tiniest frogs (toads??) from our driveway, they were everywhere
~ Got a glimpse of another beautiful sunset

Sunset

Summer Is Here

~ Playing with friends
~ Overnights at Grandma's
~ Time in the garden
~ Summer camps at the Children's Farm
~ Swim classes
~ Bonfires
~ Sleeping in

Happy Father's Day Daddy

Yes

Breakfast in the garden...


Garden in my dinner.

Roasting Marshmallows

With our best friends.

Evening in the Garden

Field Trip: Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

{a house just the right size}


{picnic in a tree house}


{finding our way through the maze}


{visiting great grandma's bench}


{making a wish}


{butterfly exhibit}

Perch Lake

12 Years

Highlights of our anniversary weekend...

~ My parents taking ALL of our kids for an overnight for the weekend
~ Going out to lunch at French Meadow
~ Stopping in at Eggplant for some last minute seeds and a few more tomato plants
~ The rain, forcing us to turn our already laid back Saturday into an even more relaxing one
~ Planning our garden gate and arbor
~ Dinner at Domacin
~ Sleeping in
~ Gardening together
~ Ending our weekend at the park with the whole family