Family fun

A few nights ago, I went to Fred Meyer to get groceries, and decided rather spur of the moment to stop by Wendy's and pick up a Frosty for everybody. My hope was that the kids were in bed, but not asleep. Could not have worked out to be better timing! Ruth was up, but Rich had just put the others to bed, so we went and got everybody back up and told them it was time for ice cream.

The kids loved this, and talked about it for a couple of days. I think I am going to start doing this every once in a while, so fun to build memories with the kiddos.

July 4th

What a long, wonderfully fun day we had!

First, the night before we had some completely unrelated fun. I've been waiting for Gymboree's semi-annual Red Balloon Sale to get some cheap fall/winter clothes for the kiddos, and it started Tuesday. We decided to make a night of it and have dinner at the mall and stop at Build a Bear. Elli got her first bear a while back, and she, Tobiah, and Naomi have been fighting over "Katie" ever since. So, we decided Tobiah and Naomi could get their own bears.

I of course had to dress the kids up to go. I realized after the fact I didn't get any of T, but really, he was just in a tee shirt and shorts. Girls really are more fun to dress...

Notice Ruth's hair? I was so excited I got it in! Elli is holding her watermelon purse, of course. :)

I didn't take my camera with me, kid of wish I had to get some pictures of the kids getting their bears, but I didn't think about it. Tobiah was really thirsty and actually cried for a water bottle the whole time they were getting their bears. After we all ate dinner, Rich took the three older ones to the play area while I took Ruth to Gymboree (which I regretted right away-she cried the whole time and I finally had to call Rich and have him come hold her while I finished up), and I think he ran a bit hard. He has that lovely habit of running himself until he is about to collapse. 110% boy, right?

Anyway, so the 4th rolled around, and the day started with my sister parking at our house and me driving her to the airport, followed right away by a drive out to Sammamish to pick up a new Lakeshore table and chairs for the kids to use for school work. It was so nice, after picking up the table I stopped at Target and walked around for a little bit, all by myself. Doesn't happen to often!

Shortly after I got home, we started getting ready for the parade. It was a blast! It always starts out with the police motorcycles, which combine two of Tobiah's favorite things-police and motorcycles.

They even stopped literally right in front of us to do their performance, driving in loops and figure 8s in front of us.

The kids did have a lot of fun. They started out sitting nicely together. It did not last too long, of course. Tobiah and Elli were up and down, not to mention running after candy and climbing on and off Nana. Tobiah also spent a good part of the parade in my lap, which I did not mind one bit.

A while later, the baby just lost it and we had to take her out, followed pretty fast by Naomi getting upset she was the only one left restrained. 

 The kids really did enjoy the parade a lot. I think this was the easiest and most enjoyable year yet, probably because we didn't have a child under the age of one for the first time. (Doesn't bode well for next year, I suppose) It was a blast, and it has left me really looking forward to next year.

Funny side note, my dog will NOT let me take his picture! I tried hard, but he hates looking at the camera. I think he is scared of it. So, the only one I got of him was when he was licking Tobiah.

  

One last event of the parade-Ruth threw her first real hissy fit. I was walking around with her a bit, but did not want to go past the (rather long) line of our group, as I did not want to be walking back and forth in front of strangers. I think that is pretty rude. Ruth was so mad that I would not let her go further, and kept trying to pull away from me. She finally screamed, tried to pull away, then threw herself on the ground, actually on top of my feet. She did end up rolling around all over the filthy road whining and screaming, throwing her little fit. I just stood there and laughed.

After the parade, we went to our friend's house for a big party. I'll be honest, I was not looking forward to it as much as I could have just because I hate big parties, but it was a lot of fun, and I was a little bummed when it was time to go. We did end up leaving kind of early (and long before fireworks) since two of our kids don't really handle staying up late very well. Elli got to hang out for the fireworks, and my awesome friend gave her a ride home, despite it being around 11:30pm. Thanks again to the Tronson family, you guys made it a very special 4th for my biggest baby!

Yes, I put it up again. :)

She was saying "I want to see" (the picture).

Pop Rocks! (Yes, I know they are Pop-Its)

Dinner, shirtless for the Littles.

Then my camera died. The kids had fun running around, using Pop-Its (which I grew up calling Pop Rocks), making daisy chains, eating lots of food, and playing with friends. It was a fun time. I think by far the best 4th of July I've ever had.

Better than peaches?

Last year, I purchased 96lbs of peaches and spent an entire weekend canning them in various ways. I never did get my blog up about it, perhaps I will do that sometime soon. We made so much peach jam, and it was to die for! Although I think after 10.5 months of eating it, we're all a little tired of it.

Yesterday I took the kids to a strawberry u-pick, something none of us had ever done. We all started out strong, picking and having fun.

Did not take Ruth long to melt down, and Naomi kept trying to eat the berries, so it quickly became a three man operation.

At this point, Rich took the little girls to walk around. When he came back, he tried to pick some more, but it was just not happening, so he went to the car to get Ruth's car seat and see if she'd like that more than the ergo. Tobiah went with him, which made picking go a lot faster. Even after he came back, Ruth just would not have anything to do with it, so Rich again decided to go for a walk, this time taking all four of the kids while I stayed and picked as fast as I could. I came out picking probably 85% of the 15lbs or so we got, with Elli doing 10%, which I was pretty proud of, and Rich doing the last 5%. Tobiah picked about ten berries I pointed out to him. What can I say, he's three.

While I was picking alone, Rich took the kids to see some really friendly horses, and ultimately had the three older kids run laps between two porta-potties. He of course had stashed the camera in the car after the above photos were taken, so sadly, no pictures of it. I guess Tobiah ran himself so hard he almost threw up. At that point Rich decided to take the kids back to the car, and Elli can and found me. She picked a few more berries, then I sent her to the car with Ruth's car seat, which had been left in the field with me, so I wouldn't have to make three trips (two boxes of strawberries=two trips), and I picked for a few more minutes. When all was said and done, I picked strawberries for two hours, and let me say, my legs are not letting me forget that. Bending/squatting for that long took it's tole on my poor legs, and I am stiff today!

After coming home, I was exhausted and took a nap. In that time, the kids and Rich inhaled most of the box the kids had picked into (I, too, picked many of those berries, as we started with one box, but the second box was just mine, and therefor all "good" berries ;) ). When I got up, I decided I better go ahead and make a batch of jam, as I did not want all those wonderful, best-I-have-ever-tasted berries going to waste. I let Elli stay up way past her bedtime to help/watch.

The end result? Seven half pints of the BEST strawberry jam I have ever tasted! Definitely rivaling with that peach jam from last year... ;)