Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Veggie Pickin'

I've been wanting to take advantage of the local produce here for ages.  It has always scared me just a little, but only because new things make me nervous.  Not the produce itself.  We go up to Greenbluff to pick pumpkins and apples in October, but I've never been for anything else. They have strawberries and cherries earlier in the summer and peaches should be ripe soon (late start to summer makes late peaches).  I texted my friend Maggie to see if her and Nathan would be up for some veggie pickin' on the 'bluff and they were down.  She admited later that she wasn't really thrilled with the idea, but was willing to give it a go.  She was pleasantly surprised that she had fun and plans to go up again soon for more produce!  Haha!  Lucky her, they live really close. 

Miles was excited to go after seeing the carrots my parents had picked a few days ago.

This is a zucchini patch, and some summer squash.

Love the yellow zucchini flowers! 

The boys had a great time picking the squashes.  Miles thought it was pretty fun :).


Eventually the bucket got heavy and we rounded up a wagon to carry our produce.  Miles loved carrying the bucket, though. 

Isla quietly hung out in the stroller and enjoyed some sunshine. She was unusually agreeable to just sit there for the hour+ we picked.  Turned out she had a fever...from the teeth?  Poor baby.  She was happy, just not as spunky.  Normally she would have been begging to get out and play in the dirt :). 

And the highlight for Miles, the carrots! 
And they smelled AMAZING.  I'm not sure I've ever noticed the smell of carrots before, just how they smell from the taste.  But these, you could smell them just holding them in your hand.  They're pretty tasty too.

I didn't bring any tomatoes home, but Maggie fixed us lunch at her house after our adventure and used one of the tomatoes and they were quite good.  Wishing I'd brought some home. We may have to go back up next week for more!  Peaches might be ready then, too, which would be fun to pick.


And, the loot.  CHEAP!!!  I couldn't believe how inexpensive  it was.  I had $15 cash and was worried it wouldn't be enough.  Boy was I shocked.  Guess how much all this came to (this is ours and Maggie's)??? 
It is a ton of carrots, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, onions, lettuce, and some blueberries...

The total for me was $5.37 and Maggie's total was $6.03!  $11.40 for that wagon full of fresh produce.  Such a bargain!

After the picking, Miles and Nathan wanted to check out the chickens.  They had many different kinds.  The boys were amused. 


And if you're wondering about the cape, much to my dismay, Miles is Batman all.the.time.  I miss the days of him being a fireman!

Here is what we brought home.  Can't wait to eat it all! 

10 Months!

Where does the time go!?!  My baby is growing up too fast, which brings a tear to my eye.  I missed her 9month post, which also makes me a little sad.  I just finished the first year of posts, turning them into a book, which I'm very excited about, but it also inspired me to keep up on my blogging.  It is so wonderful to have all those pictures and events written out! 

So, here is my sweet Isla Penelope at 10 months (taken today, so 10months and 2 days!).  She is just a bundle of smiles these days.  Pretty mellow and laid back little girl.  She is getting four, yes FOUR new teeth!  I was just saying how she only has the two, then these four are cropping up.  They are the top front four.  The two middle ones have popped through and the other two are right under the gums.  You can see and feel them, but haven't popped through, which makes for some  discomfort for my poor girl :(. 

She is eating a candle in these pictures, hence the hand in her face :).  She will eat just about anything these days.  If it will fit in her mouth, she'll put it there.  Isla loves eating bananas, cheese, puffs, and pretty much any kind of  food I'll let her eat.  She has been doing great with a sippy cup, but so far, we only put water in it.  Next month, I'll start introducing whole cow's milk in a sippy for her to ease into the transition and possibly start weaning from breast milk. 

She is quite the active little girl as well.  She will crawl anywhere to get to anything she wants and is often found having pulled all her wipes out of the container, eating markers and crayons that she pulled out of the art cupboard, or pulling clothes out of  her drawers.  If the bathroom door is left open, she's in there longingly staring into the bathtub or splashing in the toilet...assuming the lid was left up.  It reminds me of stories my  mom would tell me about when I was a baby :).


After she got over  her ear infection from June, she was sleeping horribly, waking every few hours.  After our trip to Lake Chelan, where she slept pretty well in the hotel room with the TV on, us talking, etc, I thought she might sleep better in Miles' room, not right next to me.  And, it worked!  She still gets up once or twice, but usually sleeps from 7-10ish, 10ish-6ish, with occasionally waking at 2ish.  MUCH better :).

And for good measure, Isla at 9 months, since I missed that post...whoops!
At 9 months, she  weighed in at 17# 10oz (24th %) and measured 28 inches (75th-ish %).  Miles at this age was 19# 8oz (33rd %) and was 29.75inches (91st %).  Still a little bigger than his sis!


Here was Miles at 9months. 


And Miles at 10months. 

I don't think they look alike at all :).

Park Day

Yesterday, I took the kids to meet some of my coworkers at a park so we could all socialize and the kids could play.  There have  been upwards of 20-30 pregnancies at my work since I started 4.5 years ago.  It's crazy!  We're all baby crazy NICU nurses...imagine that :).  

The main attraction for the play date was this little guy:

Jake, born on 8.2.11, just three weeks new!  So adorable!

Isla was also quite fond of him.  I think it's funny that babies love babies so much!

Here's a few pictures of  some more of  the clan.

Kailub with Brenna.  Kaylee, Kailub's 3month old was napping. 

This includes Jaime and Olivia, and Peyton in the background.

We were trying to get a picture of all the girls, but they wouldn't sit still :). 



It was a nice, sunny, hot summer day.  Such fun to sit and let the kidos play!  There were a lot of people not there, but we had fun none the less.  I have a great group of coworkers and am so glad we could all get  together!

Swimming and Boating

The weekend before last, we went up to the cabin for a little  R&R and to soak up some sunshine!  We left when I got home from work on Saturday and were there around lunch time.  We ate and then I had a much needed nap.  When I got up, Miles was dying to go down to the lake...and how could I say no?  I mean, look at this sky!


So, we suited up and  walked down to the shore.  Miles hopped right in the water.  Didn't bat an eye at the cold water!


He was good and stayed near the shore and had fun swimming.


I wish I could remember what he was doing with these sticks.  Maybe they were supposed to be paddles for a boat?  Ugh!  Can't remember...

Isla did sit in the water for a few minutes.  At first she loved it, splashing and laughing.  After a few minutes, she started whining, so I took her out and we played on the grass.  She  is a lover of all keys...or anything metal for that matter!

When Ben woke up, he joined us down by the water.

Sunday, we slept in and enjoyed some breakfast.  We lied low until lunch, then packed up the car and went down to the dock for a little spin around the lake.
Miles had to bring his "floppy fish", now "Spiderman fish" (it is a Spiderman pole) and  go fishing off the dock.  It's a good thing there isn't a hook on that thing!

You can see the remnants of his hickey :).  He found Grandpa Tom's fishing hat.  Miles  has fun on the boat.



It was a BEAUTIFUL day!!!

And a WONDERFUL boat ride!


After a great time parking the boat, we went back up to the cabin and got ready to go.  This was both kids about five minutes after leaving the cabin.



Another wonderful summer weekend at the cabin!

Hickey Face

Oy!  A couple weeks ago, Miles kept walking around with half a plastic Easter egg pretending it was a "gas mask" so he could "breath under water".  Never mind the fact that gas masks don't make it so you can breath under water :).  He would suck it onto his face, then pop it off, repeatedly.  Well, one time (the last time, mind you) he sucked it on and left it there for a few minutes...then pulled it off without breaking the seal first...
And he was left with a giant HICKEY!!!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Big Lake: The Final Chapter

Our last morning at the big lake, we met the family for breakfast.  We hung out in the lobby while waiting for our table.  Miles loved spending time with his cousin!




Then we enjoyed a hearty breakfast together.  Miss Isla loves fruit with a passion :).


And loved spending some QT with her Grandpa O.


Then we packed up our room, loaded the car, checked out, and hit the beach one last time.  We said good bye to the cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents :(.



A family photo on the way to the beach.  Everyone else  headed home at this point. 

After some swimming in the lake, more sandcastles, some time in the hot pool, we changed our clothes and hit the road.


Isla fell asleep before I even started the car! 

Everyone slept the whole way with the exception of me, who drove.  I guess Ben stayed awake  for an hour  or so. It made the trip home a quick 3hrs door to door.  Miles woke up when we got home and was thrilled that we had "taken a short cut" home :).

It was a wonderful relaxing weekend are we're already looking forward to doing it again next year and hopefully seeing everyone there this time!