more berry picking

Today, Gretchen & I headed over to the berry farm after dropping off Carl at school. We didn't know if we would be able to pick anything or not, but we knew we could get ice cream for breakfast. So, no matter what - the day was going to start off well.

Turns out, it is blackberry picking season so we got to pick those. It was something like 159* out today. Oh, OK, when we passed a bank display at 9:06 am it was only 90*. Only. So, it was very hot out in the open field. Luckily, the lady directing people where to pick gave us a ride in her golf cart both out to the field and then delivered us back in when we finished.

There were so many berries on the bushes! You could reach in and find 7-8 huge berries hanging in clusters off each branch! We did less than 1/4 of a row and had out bucket filled! And Gretchen even more filled! She was doing very well picking them and dropping them into the bucket until the lady said, "Have you tried one yet?" and once she did - that was it, she still picked as fast as she was, but not a single one went into our bucket. They should have weighed her on our way out to pay, too! (My bucket was about $12 worth.)

Once back to the building, we bought some corn on the cob and blueberries along with our blackberries. We ran those out to the car and returned to buy ourselves a dish of homemade blackberry ice cream! We headed over to the rocking chairs (adult and child sized, of course). We enjoyed our breakfast and then, Gretchen said, "Let's just relax some more." She is a riot, you know. She was a bit disappointed because the other 2 kids and their mother never responded to her many attempts to strike up a conversation. She loves to talk to anyone and everyone.

I wouldn't call myself shy

But, today, Carl's first speech therapist, Lindsey called and asked me if she could give my name and number to another mom with a 3.5 yr old who gets speech therapy from her. I hesitated and then said yes, she could. Well, about 2 hours later, after fretting over it, I called back and left Lindsey a message saying I was have second thoughts and if she hadn't already called the lady, would she not call her?

Turns out, she had already called her. So, this might be good for me. And, Lindsey didn't really know if the lady was looking for a playdate relationship or just someone to talk to about speech things and everyday life. It's out of my comfort zone. Seems fair, I guess. For Carl, speech sessions push him out of his comfort zone, too.

So, I thought I would make this entry so that in a few months, when I have become good friends with this mom, I could look back and show myself that having doubts wasn't necessary! (Eh, who am I kidding... I am much more cynical... I'll be looking back to prove myself right.)

don't forget the chickens

don't forget... Aunt Annie has chickens.....

and lettuce you can eat right out of the garden!

oh yeah... and cousins!!!!!

our June NY vacation, 6.19

On Friday, June 19th, we traveled to Oneida to visit with good friends. First, lunch with some of my Charming Friends collecting friends.

Rema & Jill
Diane and Myrt

Ida, Lois, Jill & Bev

oh, such talent! The kids loved seeing Christopher again! He is only 2 weeks younger than they are. Susan and I went through pregnancy together. Now, I wish we lived closer for the kids to play more often!

Here are both families. Susan & Steve had welcomed Elizabeth only 2 weeks earlier! She is precious!

Here are Bev, Diane & Mary. Steve with Elizabeth, Lew with Carl. I love this shot!

They were fishing!

Then, after lunch, we dropped Lew off at Chris' and Bob was just arriving, too. Three high school cronnies...

our June NY vacation, 6.16

and more...

On June 16th we went to Indian Ladder Farms in the morning. The petting animals didn't seem to impress the twins as much as I thought they would. Finally, after many attempts and Gretchen tossing a ton of animal food pellets on the ground, Lew gritted his teeth and grunted, "We are not leaving here until someone feeds a goat!" And sure enough, once they really tried it, they thought it was funny and tickled a lot. Up by the store, Mom took this family shot for us. And, yes, of course we bought homemade cider doughnuts inside! The kids really thought the whole shop was fun, but these bees fascinated them a lot!Later that day, we headed out to Hoffman's Playland for more fun. Here we are just arriving with Grammie & Grandma!Oh my, the kids loved it! Carl's favorite ride was this bus... he threw a huge fit when we tried to get him to go to another ride....

Gretchen was more flexible....

Both kids did enjoy the merry-go-round. The ride with Daddy was the first ride of the afternoon and this shot with Mommy was on the last ride before heading home for dinner.

Well, turns out dinner never happened. Mom & I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food and Lew took the kids back home only 10 minutes ahead of us. They decided to play at the playhouse before dinner. Well, when we got home, we found all three of them in the kitchen adn Carl was covered in blood. He tripped on the playhouse stairs (the playhouse is a small house thing my brother built, but it is a full flight of wooden deck stairs to gain access to the porch of the house) and cut the lower part of his chin. So, we walk in and Lew is immediately telling me, "It's fine. It has stopped bleeding. He's fine." Normally, I have the same laid back attitude about injuries that Lew does, but I took one look at Carl's chin (had to flip him upside-down to even see it) and I knew it needed stitches. Mom confirmed my diagnosis.

So, we called our insurance to see if they would authorize a First Stop kind of medical care place instead of having to take him to the emergency room. After a few minutes, yes they would approve the close one that was associated with my mother's primary doctor. Cool. So, Lew & I took Carl and Gretchen stayed with Grammie. Two on one was a breeze! Actually, teh whole event was quite simple. We were the only ones there and got taken in quickly. The doctor siad Carl was a candidate for glueing and in a few minutes, he and the 2 nurses glued the cut shut. Carl cried some, but still found time to tell his knock-knock jokes! As they were holding him down, if you said, "It's almost done" he would sob and say, "Almost done" or "You're ok" and he'd come back with "I'm okay" through his tears. The nurses got a big kick out of him. When it was over, he got 2 Sesame Street stickers and he thanked the nurses and doctor about 10 million times. They were even chuckling at how polite he was! He is so flippin' cute! We were back at my mother's in less than one hour!!!!!! All for a co-pay, too! Not an emergency room visit that could take hours and cost at least $100 co-pay for that. (His chin is healing very very nicely. It is still a touch red, but that should fade. You can't see it when you look at him head on.)

I have a shot of his shirt covered in blood before we went, but I'll spare you that shot! You can see the bandage in the sleeping shot below. No shock to say... both kids slept well this night!!

phew....vacation

We visited NYS from June 12-23 and I still haven't found enough time to update here. We jumped right back into work and school the day after we got home and I fell like I am still playing catch-up.

I will try to get some great stories and a few (of the gazillion) pictures up, too, in the next day or so.

our June NY vacation, 6.13-15

I never wrote about our trip north in June. (edit: I decided to move these posts into June so they would be where they belong.)

We picked that time to go home to visit because our niece, Stephanie was getting married. So, we decided to come a full week early and stay a few days after that wedding.

Let me just narrate a bunch of photos instead of going on and on and then trying to match things up...

We stayed at Aunt Lila's house in VA on the way home. June 13, 2009

Once we got to NY, Uncle Kenny made sure the kids had plenty to be excited about!

June 14, 2009

Carl (3.5) and Katy (6.25) were quite a pair on the trampoline. They would play a kind of copy cat game with jumping and sounds. Or, they'd chant "jump and jump and jump and sit!"

only Joe is missing.... June 15, 2009

It was Mom's birthday, so Claire and Gretchen decorated her cake...

Carl helped add the candles....
and Katy did a little last minute decorating, too...Joe was there to help Grammie blow out the candles and make a wish...
a few pictures outside after dinner and dessert...

We attempted our first family classic pose... The Line-Up. It ended up more like a conga line. Joe wouldn't be first, but having the little ones in front wasn't working either.