Well, Ryan and I did a silly thing on Saturday. We went to Silverwood. Now, one might think, gee, that sounds like a lot of fun. I haven't been to Silverwood in years, so, we went with my family for one last outing before Ty left for school. Yeah, should have rethought that decision. We took Callie. For those of you who have ears probably know that I was a fool. Yes, I am sure most of the several thousand people at Silverwood heard us at some point during the day. It was an utter disaster. Nothing was what she wanted, and then when she was finally happy, something would go wrong, like her trying to steal someone else's ball. Yup, that really did happen. She wasn't a big fan of waiting in line, which I can understand, who is, but seriously, like three minutes isn't that big of a deal, however, my broken ear drums prove otherwise. So, what did most people see? A hugely pregnant chick carrying around a screaming child, I looked ridiculous.
Thankfully there were a few saving moments. She loved the log ride, until my dad sprayed us, ya know, when you plug in the quarter and you can spray whoever is in front of the water gun thing. Yeah, none of us liked that so much, but the rest of the ride was fabulous. And she LOVED the little kid ferris wheel. Oh man, she just laughed, absolutely loved it. Then she screamed when it stopped because she didn't want to get off. The first time, the girl unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the door for her to get out and she just closed the door and sat back down. Hmmm, I think she might be a little independent. Anyway, I guess I am glad we went, I am not sure yet, however, we will not be returning with her for several years and next time I don't want to be pregnant. I like roller coasters and obviously, they discourage them when you are two weeks away from giving birth! I have now documented this expedition for all to read, and to serve as a forever reminder why we don't do certain activities, but rather, wait until the kids are just a little bigger!

I have been meaning to add some pictures here, so here is a smattering of what I have. We have had a fun summer and done a lot of great things!

We had a lot of fun picking strawberries at Greenbluff in June. Callie and I went with Grandma Hansen. It took Callie a few minutes to realize that she really liked the strawberries, so she would pick them out of the box and bring them to me to take the stem off and sit down and eat them. She loved it!

We really enjoy going to Millwood Park, it has tons of toys to play on, the most important is the swing followed closely by the merry go round. Plus, it has a little wading pool to cool off in. Callie will play in the pool for a few minutes then make the rounds at the toys. It's tiring for me, but she absolutely loves going to the park.

Callie also loves to play outside, climb on anything, ride her tricycle, which she doesn't really ride, but its funny to watch anyway! For her birthday, a few months early, she got a big swingset in the backyard from Ryan and I and her grandparents on both sides. She "helped" Ryan put it together and he got some more help from Beau and Ty, who were good sports about it. So, when it was done, Beau was nice enough to push her on the teeter totter thing. The higher, the better, she thinks it's great and she has no fear!

Hmm, I have no idea what they were doing, but I don't think Callie was having as much fun as Ryan!

This was Easter morning, Callie was just getting revved up on sugar.

Gardening Fun!!

It is so rewarding to go out to our garden and be able to pick fresh fruits and vegetables for our family. As a kid, I never in a million years would have thought that I would enjoy that. I mean, I remember hating with every fiber of my being going out to the garden to weed. It was awful. But now, Ryan and I love to have our garden. This morning I picked a HUGE bowl of green beans that I need to freeze for later, and I didn't even get all of them. We are just so lucky to have the garden space. And I absolutely love my berry bushes. I didn't think we would have berries so soon, because we only planted the bushes last summer, but we have tons! The strawberries were incredible this year, our marionberry is already producing and they taste good, and our blackberries have so many berries just ripening up!
Anyway, you may all think that I am crazy to bring this up right now, I was just so grateful this morning as I was picking my green beans in the super hot weather. And Callie was so cute running to the berry bushes wanting me to pick some for her. I think it is a fabulous way for her to learn to eat different fruits and enjoy something that not all children get. My point. I am very grateful and blessed to have this in my life. I still don't really like weeding, but I don't mind it as much as I used to, and it is totally worth it to eat this homegrown fruits and veggies!!! Now, if we could just get our watermelon and cantaloupe to be a little more successful. I guess we will have to try something new next year. We'll see!!