pretty flowers

Our trip out to Sweetberry Farm wasn't quite as idyllic as last year's.

It was super windy and the girls were just grouchy. It took some lunch, an ice cream bribe and a little time before they found their happy.

We ended the trip by picking flowers.

$2 for all the flowers you can fit into a plastic cup. Em was charmed and Roo was intrigued. And I was surprised by how much their scissor skills have improved since school began.

(because we do not keep scissors at kid level nor do we practice with them at home. two kids + scissors = unauthorized hair cut)

The girls proudly presented them to J when we returned home.

"Jessa for you, Daddy. We pick dese flowers jessa for you."

snapshots in my mind and heart

Yesterday we returned to a favorite farm for blackberry picking. While the berries were yummy and the farm activities were fun, the highlights for me were...

• Em and Roo singing the theme song from Wonder Pets while searching for berries "this is serious... this is serious... this.is.Serious."
• Em running around with a friend after lunch, holding a cookie. She tripped, slid on her belly and came to a stop with every inch of her body touching the ground. Except the hand holding the cookie. That one was held high in the air. The cookie was unscathed.
• Roo climbing onto a bench and shouting "and now... for the Amazing Em!" It was the perfect bait to get Em up on the bench.
• Roo masterminding a tap dancing routine with her sister.
• Em and Roo picking little bits of grass, creeping close to the coral and dropping it for the horses to eat.
• Em chasing butterflies.
• Listening to Roo sing in the backseat on the scenic drive home.

Round 3

The conclusion of The Farm pictures, or rather, my favorites from that group.


smelling "scrumptious" flowers


climbing back on the hay ride after a stop at the climbing tree

Em and Mama in the climbing tree

Hey! They look a little like twins in this picture.

Daddy and Roo on the hay ride
Mama and Em on the hayride.
One last pose with the pumpkins.

Punkins

We ended up with so many sweet photos from our afternoon at The Farm, that I decided to parcel them out a bit. Here is round 2 of the favorites.

HalloWeekend

It ended up a bit different than we planned, but in retrospect, the weekend was perfect.

A Halloween birthday party attended next door. Costumes were encouraged, but the Rowdy Girls were not having it. Trick or treating downtown was nixed and instead we got the tired, cupcaked girlies bathed and pajamatized.

Em and Roo got their second wind as the first wave of trick or treaters hit our house. Instead of donning costumes, they became the perfect hostesses. Greeting each person with much enthusiasm and lighting the way with glowsticks.
Bonus, we're not stuck with buckets of candy we shouldn't and couldn't eat.

Today, the weather was stunning. Ideal for a belated trip to the pumpkin patch. Sweet Berry Farm was a total blast for our family. Hayrides and mazes.
Beautiful fall flowers and pumpkins galore.
It was the perfect weekend.

Sweet Berry Farmers

Our playgroup went blackberry picking this week. This was a first for the RGs. Daddy was able to come with us, too.

Em ate at least a pound of blackberries (and strawberries) straight off the vine. She also insisted on carrying the basket the entire time. Very important work. Roo asked me several times if we were camping again.
J was a berry picking machine and moved down the row quickly. Em and I lagged behind and Roo traveled back and forth between us. I noticed that it was taking Roo an extraordinarily long time to complete her trip. She would make it about half way, then turn around and go back to J, then start over. He said she was snitching blackberries from his basket and would finish eating them before she made the trip to my end of the row. So, she'd return for another snack, finish it midway, and start over again. I think it took her half an hour to make the entire trip.



Once our baskets were full of strawberries, blackberries, summer squash and yellow onions, we took a break. Homemade strawberry puree popsicles. The ultimate happysicles.


Em and Roo were enchanted by the tiny tractor. In pink. Adorable.

And we finished out our trip putting our face in the ladybug's spots and taking pictures.

A berry delicious day.

Boggy Bottom Girls

Today, after the morning's appointments, we kidnapped Daddy for lunch. And took him to the farm.

The Boggy Creek organic urban market Farm. A mere 7 miles from his downtown office.

Em and Roo had loads of fun meeting the chickens and speaking their language.


It was a beautiful day for a walking tour of the farm. The sun was shiny, the air was clear after morning rain showers, the spring flowers were beautiful and the toddlers were happy.
Em wanted to go to there. That way. So, we did.
And, eventually we ended up back in the farm's market stand and had lots of fun picking out yummy stuff for dinner.
Well, Mom and Dad thought it was yummy.
Work remains to be done in the vegetable eating department.