A mighty fine Memorial Day weekend

We have started out this summer with a bang!! We've stayed up too late, played outside, gone to the pool, and done all sorts of fun summer things.  And it's not even June! Eeh...let's hope mommy doesn't poop out too soon.

After our wonderful morning of berry picking, we spent a beautiful May night with some good friends and didn't leave until way past all of our bedtimes.  As I think back to when Annika was itty-bitty, whenever we went to a friend's house for the evening, we would haul all of Annika's gear with us.  We made sure we had the pack-n-play, sound machine, a variety of "lovies," monitor, and whatever other necessities we needed to ensure that our daughter wouldn't be kept up past her 7:30 bedtime. We've got a schedule to keep, people! Not so much with #4. Yep, Simon (and his brother and sisters) stayed up until 11:00 p.m.! Wow! What kind of parents are we?!?! I guess we are just parents who need to talk to some other adults, regardless of how late our children are up. 

Staying up so late meant that we went to the late service on Sunday and we took extra-long naps Sunday afternoon. :) When we finally woke up, we headed downtown to do some celebratin'! It was the first time that we ventured out for the annual Symphony event, Celebration at the Station.  Took some time out of our weekend to remember to remember! We are very thankful that our friends scoped out a spot a few hours before we got there, so we didn't have to sit with all our craziness for too long in the warm and slightly humid weather.

Once the sun went down, it turned into a gorgeous evening.  However, Landon thought that once the sun hit the horizon, the fireworks were going to start immediately.  Sorry, buddy, still gotta wait a bit. But we were a semi-patient crew, especially with an obscene amount of caramel corn, puppy chow, chocolate chip cookies, brownies and suckers to keep our attention.  Seriously, who are the parents of these children?!?!

Our sugar-induced patience paid off and we were treated to some spectacular fireworks!! 

 But, that means we also stayed allll the way until the end.  Yes, we didn't get home and to bed until about 11:15 p.m. Again?? What is wrong with us?!?!

Thankfully, we had a stormy and dark morning on Monday. So we didn't rouse until 8:45 a.m. Phew, a little bit of redemption there.

Then this happened....

Remember our strawberries? They are now all sweetened up and vacuum packed into 17 ever so cute little jam jars. Mmm...good stuff!!

Yep, we made some more memories this weekend.  They are just about as sweet as my strawberry jam. 

Hope you all are having an awesome start to your summer!!

"Berry Juicy!"

That was the quote of the day today.  Annika said it regarding the strawberries we spent the previous hour picking.  She thought she was pretty clever.  She gets her punny humor from her mama (I can thank my VP side for that...you know who you are!).  Poor girl.

But, first before I go any further, I want to thank all of my readers for their kind comments, texts, and emails regarding My Letter to my Children. As I told one of my friends, "I was just speaking from my heart." :) It's good to know that I am not the only one who has these apprehensions about summer.  Some of it may come from our mutual feelings regarding that website. As much as I enjoy perusing and scrolling alllll the way down to the bottom of my Pinterest homepage, I think it is very easy to get caught up in the idea that you must have the perfect summer, with the perfect kids, wearing the perfect outfit, in your perfect kitchen, doing the perfect ab workout because you have eaten just about every perfect brownie that has ever been pinned on that darned site!!! O.k. I need to stop. This is stuff for a whole other post.

Anywho, back to the purpose of this post. We went strawberry picking today. I checked the website before we left. I called the hotline before we left. There were berries for the picking. So we left. We got there 40 minutes later and the ever so nice country-ish gentleman said, "We're picked out for today."

Wha? Alllrighty.

Made me regret the 3 seconds before when I cried out to the kids "Who's ready for berry picking?!?!" And there was a resounding, in that even-louder-because they-are-all-in-the-car yell, "WE ARE!!!"

Umm, well, this is awkward.

I get that look from my husband.  You wives you know that look. The look that says "I drove 40 minutes in a van with four kids only to eat our lunch sitting in the hot grass and I don't get any berries out of the deal?!" Side note, he had just gotten done with a 2 hour bike ride and a 12 mile run before we jumped into the van to head out to the berry patch. Another awkward moment.  See, this is why I don't go anywhere.

So...we asked nicely if we could at least sit by the pond and eat our lunch.  We pulled into the parking lot and Dan said, "Get out. Go into that patch and see what you can see."  So I walked in like I owned the place (another wonderful trait I picked up from that VP side), and went to see what I could see. And I saw strawberries!  Apparently, they were pretty picked over.  It was the first day of picking, and people had already been there since 7:45 a.m. It was now 11:45.  So I grabbed a box, and the nice lady that worked there (seriously, they were all Kansas country nice) told me to go to the far rows and I should be able to find some berries, I just may have to reach into the bushes a little more. Dan and the kids soon followed and we found strawberries! They were warm and red and ripe and oh so "berry juicy!" Wonderful! Just wonderful!

"Official Taste Tester"

Strawberry Picking Experts!

Yum

We ended up picking about 9 1/2 pounds. Not to shabby for a Saturday morning.  So, day 1 of summer vacation and we have already ventured out of the house and made a memory. If we only make one more memory, I will call it a successful summer!

A letter to my children

To my dear and darling children,

Tomorrow is the last day of the 2013 school year.  Wow! Hasn't it just flown by?! I feel like I just posted about you going back to school.  But, here we are with summer vacation upon us.  We are going to welcome the freedom of the summertime schedule with open arms.  

No getting up until past eight in the morning? Bring it!  

No more making lunches the night before? Yes! Please! 

Playing outside until after the fireflies have gone to bed? Sounds good to me! 

Pool time everyday? Absolutely!

However, let's take a moment here to discuss a few things--just so we are all on the same page.

1) I will not be your "cruise director." When I was your age, I played outside from sunup to sundown. I found my own fun. We made grass salads and mud pies.  You will play "make believe," "house," tag, hide-n-go-seek. You will catch a frisbee, master the hula-hoop, and pretend your bikes are the fastest horses in town. You will play! Play! Play!

2) I am a certified "Boredom Buster." Yes, every mom takes this class before they are allowed to become a mom.  We are masters at making sure you aren't bored.  Does this mean catering to your every desire? No. Does this mean that I will have a list of things that you can do if you are overtaken by the Disease of Boredom? Yes. Sweep the floors, dust the baseboards, empty the dishwasher, put laundry away.  See! You are cured! What a miracle!

3) Pinterest, Schminterest. No, I do not plan on completing the "100 Crafty Days of Summer." Paint and I have a love-hate relationship, and don't even get me started on glitter glue.  We have play-dough. Good enough for me.  A homemade spray ground using PVC pipes and modge-podge? Nope. Here's a hose, have at it. 

4) We will have play dates.  They are your siblings.  I birthed our own playgroup.  See, isn't mommy thoughtful?! You will treat them as nicely as you treat your friends.

5) We will have one hour of quiet time a day. 'nough said.

6) It will be a fun summer. It will be a fun summer. It will be a fun summer. 

7) In September, I will petition for teachers to be paid more.

So, my beloved ones, let's have a great summer. Let's make a memory or two.  Let's party like it's 1999 (no, wait, you're not old enough yet).  Let's have loads of fun!! 

Now, go outside.

Love,

Mom

We've got Talent

Today Annika's school had a talent show. It was so wonderful to see all these elementary kiddos go out there and give it their best in front of their peers. The talents ranged from voice solos to dance routines. Really long, but really cute. :)

Annika played "We're Off to See the Wizard." Yes, apparently we can't get enough of the Wizard of Oz around here.  I was glad I was able to get Annika's first ever talent show performance on video. I am sure she will treasure this extra special video forever. I know I will...it's just that fantastic (if I could type sarcasm, I would put a hint of it here) :).



 She's got talent and bravery, and, hopefully, a lot of patience for her little brother.