Special Friends

Rollin has been moving a little slow today and pretty much hanging out on the patio watching Nina, Sela, and Sammy run and play. He just seems tired. Content, but a little worn out. This afternoon I looked out my kitchen window and saw Rollin literally laying down right beside Max holding his paw and snuggling his lovey. It has to be one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. I watched for a bit and then he got up and started lifting up Max's ear. After I went back inside, I saw him grab his lovey again and lay down on Max's back. Max is old and gets tired too so they make a good pair.

Getting Dirty

We headed out to the strawberry fields again on Wednesday for what I thought would be a quick little outing. The strawberries were sweeter after just a couple days of good sun. We brought Sam with us and met Lisa at the fields a bit later. The kids were very excited that Sam was able to stay and play for the day. Lisa was busy getting her house on the market and preparing for trek so we convinced her to leave Sam with us. He's such a fun little kid and so easy going. We went to Tolt McDonald park and played on the bridge and followed a little trail down to the water.

The kids were having so much fun digging trenches, throwing rocks, and looking for fishing worms that they didn't want to break for lunch but they were very hungry. After we had exausted our snacks, we decided to go eat at Remlinger Farms. There aren't too many options in the tiny town of Carnation. With all the trains and toys at Remlinger, that little lunch turned into a two hour event. After lunch, I bought some canning jars and other materials in the country store and we headed back to the river. When we finally headed home around 4:30, everyone was filthy, my car was a sight to behold full of peanut shells and strawberry stems, and the kids were worn out. These are the kind of summer days I love. It made me so thankful that I held off on scheduling lots of summer camps and classes this year for the kids. There were some day campers from Wilderness Awareness (a camp I almost enrolled the girls in) playing in the river near us, but they were there doing exactly what we were doing...getting dirty, exploring, and being kids. I was happy to be there with all of my kids and to observe their love and curiosity in the outdoors. We had no where to be and the day just evolved into this wonderful little adventure. Sam spent the night with us and is going to stay and play all day today. I am going to tackle the garage. Not so fun but I've gotta get started.

Puff Balls

Sela is a big fan of these puff balls and the fun thing is she can make a big batch herself. They are a great snack with plenty of protein. Basically we just mix nut butter (usually peanut butter) and a sweetener (honey, agave, or pure maple). Then we add lots of puffed cereal and mix it all around. When we do peanut butter, we like to put these tiny dark chocolate balls in or mini chocolate chips. Sometimes some dried fruit or even coconut. But a simple peanut butter chocolate ball is good snack for kids and adults. When it's all mixed, Sela just forms little balls and we put them in the fridge to get cold. We like them cold for some reason. The puffed cereal usually comes in bags and is just bland puffed grains (usually only one ingredient) like millet, rice, kamut, etc. We polish a plate of these off in no time at all!

Strawberry Heaven

We picked Nina's weight in strawberries this morning. 32 pounds! The season began late this year and I've been checking in with my favorite berry farm periodically over the past couple of weeks. I love, love, love to pick berries. It truly is one of my favorite things. Filling my freezer with all those little bags makes me happy knowing the strawberry goodness will last well into the winter. I had lots of extra helpers today in the Davis girls. When I found out Harvolds was opening their fields today, I thought it might be crazy to take all six kids, but I just really couldn't wait. Today was the very first day which means really easy picking and strawberry plants loaded with berries. Rollin and Ceci were the ones I was a bit concerned about but they were troopers and stayed right with me and did so well. The older girls picked two huge flats on their own and made a couple of new friends in the owner's grandchildren. We left with four flats, tummies full of berries, and faces smeared with red juicy goodness.

There are little strawberry patches spread all over our yard as well. Rollin can often be found stomping around in them. Some are the teeny tiny ever-bearing ones that produce all summer. We have one patch of the regular sized ones which we had our first taste of this week. We've noticed the squirrels are also very fond of the berries so Rollin spends lots of time yelling at the squirrels when they get too close.

Catching my breath

I've been looking forward to this week for awhile now. Sela's last day of school was last Wednesday and Nina's was Thursday. The week was jam packed. There were end of the year parties, Zig's work party at Chateau St. Michele, my last art docent, eye exams for Sela and Nina, preschool social, church commitments...every day somewhere to be or something to be done. Most were good and fun but when I look at my calendar and every day of the week has several items listed, it bums me out. I had sitters at least four times. One time was very worth it though...Darcie and I went to the University Village sidewalk sale for a little desperately needed (Anthropologie) retail therapy! I found some fun dishes and a couple tablecloths. No clothes this time. Nothing I couldn't live without...that's good! Mostly it was just fun to go together and get some talking time in the car.

We began the week with a long leisurely family bike ride yesterday. I set up my bike rack on the back of my car so I can drive to a few fun trails and pack all the gear by myself. Zig gave me a little refresher on how to tighten and secure everything, so I'm looking forward to traveling by bike a bit more this summer. We realized we can bike to the library and some little tennis courts, Jamba Juice, and several parks. We can get to downtown Redmond and Woodinville in minutes on the trail.

We do have lots of plans for the summer, but most will take place at home. We have piles and piles of books from the library on everything from creating our own outdoor theater to cooking to nature crafts. I hope to pick lots of berries and make jam. And read. And rest. Anyway, the sun is out this morning. We are headed over to pick up the Davis girls for another play date before they depart for California. And the rest of the week, the calendar is empty. Ahhhh. It's officially summer.

The newest second grader!
Snow cones and friends, pure bliss for Nina.
Chubby bare feet and wife-beater... a perfect summer uniform ;)

Greens and Beans

No matter how much I try to prepare and plan ahead, somehow lunch is always bit crazy on Sundays. We need a substantial lunch, but for some reason we're always in a rush. Can't eat too early or the kids will get hungry at church...can't eat too late or we'll be late (usually the case!). I'm not a big pasta lover, but we often turn to pasta on Sunday afternoons because it is quick and the kids eat it fast (key word being fast!). Today I made a green pasta using fava beans, peas, and broccoli. The sauce for the pasta was a spinach pesto I made earlier in the week (mix fresh spinach, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil and romano or parmesan cheese in the food processor). I used a mix of whole wheat pasta shells and regular fusilli so the whole wheat pasta wouldn't overpower all the veggies.

The kids all like different things...they will eat most things I make, but there are certain loves for each child. I know Nina will eat almost any soup and love it. Sela will eat anything with salmon. Rollin loves pasta and tomato based soups. Sela likes bread and sandwiches and Rollin would never touch turkey or a sandwich. I never know what it's going to be for Rollin as he is the most unpredictable at this stage. I almost made him a simple pasta dish with just cheese and broccoli but decided to see if he would just try our green pasta. He turned out to be the best eater polishing off two bowls. I was so excited because he doesn't love spinach but he was able to eat a ton of spinach in the pesto and not even know it. That's a good thing.

Summer, you're finally here!

Picnics, running through the sprinkler, homemade lemonade, forts in the trees, icecream, and fireflies..... I'd say summer has finally arrived! We've had a wonderful day with Tennie, Adele, and Ceci. The kids played and played and played some more. They were begging for a sleepover as the time to take them home drew near. I couldn't deny them because they have all been little angels (and we know our days together are numbered). We've had a blast. I took all the kids to Nina's preschool end of the year social then we stopped by the grocery store for a few sleepover essentials. The kids watched a little bit of a movie on my computer since we haven't hung our tv up yet and now all 6 kids, including Rollin, are fast asleep. Rollie did not want to be left out of the action. Ceci is his little buddy in the group, so he felt he belonged at the foot of the bed with the girls! So sweet. I'm not sure what the night will bring, so I'm going to get in bed as well!