Picking Cherries

You know what's really fun lately?

I have pickers!

I've always had toddlers and babies to wrangle, and if you
don't already know from your own experience, you can probably
guess just how much picking can be accomplished while herding
short people and carrying a baby!!

This summer however, four big'uns went out and brought back
Huckleberries enough to fill 4 gallon bags for the freezer!

The most recent novel adventure was a Cherry picking venture.

We were at our local one-stop country store/diner/post office sipping
milk shakes, when my children spied some trees ripe with cherries out back.

Permission was generously granted, so we packed a picnic dinner,
some cans, a ladder, and some lawn chairs (I pick vicariously from a lawn
chair these days!) and set to!

What a beautiful setting it was!
I just soaked in the warm twilight rays, the greenness - even for the midst of summer -
batted at mosquitoes and couldn't help but be mesmerized watching these wonderful
children that call me theirs.

Zack had  high hopes of picking several five gallon buckets full, but we don't have a
great way to pit cherries for freezing so they needed to be eaten fresh (oh drat).

They picked quite a lot, Aloria picked some up off the ground,
and I was handed a few fistfuls to taste-test...
Some were rather wormy.  You know what they say about that, right?

There's only one thing worse than finding a worm in a Cherry...

Finding half a worm.

I was veeeeerrry careful to look for worms.
And if I didn't look - I popped that cherry right in so I'd never be in danger
of finding even half a worm. :-)

Mmmm... they were so summer-good!  Maybe cherry picking is a new tradition.

Perhaps next year we'll buy a pitter :-)

A New Look for Miles

My darling bundle of delight with a head  of hair the color of his mothers.

Once it began to thin and some bald spots to show up, I knew it was time.
Time for baby's first haircut.

A particular sweetness this time around, was that the daddy didn't begin his usual
hints and prods toward that end.  He thinks our little guys especially, clean up to
a new level of handsome boy-ness once the first wispy locks are removed.

I... well, I just can't bear to let go.

I took a good week to get up my gumption.
Then I decided to play barber while Miles' dad was out of town so we could surprise him.

"You know you're gonna love it mama!" says Miles

Oh My!  How patient you've been Miles-O.  Don't look so worried....

You look just dandy!

Oh darlin'~  Is it possible to get any cuter?

It turns out there wasn't much to let go of other than a few shocks of stringy hair.
We had nothing to lose :-)
My boy took the whole undertaking in stride, and his daddy was thrilled!

{Thank you, my sweet Susanna, for taking all these precious pictures!}

Summerness

Late nights
late mornings
sleeping on top of bedding and not in,
neighbors, friends, visiting family...
berry picking, bug catching, running barefoot and skinning knees,
devouring books, soaking up sun, consuming loads of ice...
this is summer.

Whatever the variation, one constant theme remains through
the years of summers, and that is
the lake.

This lake is just a couple miles from our house and is one of those
little known secret spots tucked in the heart of heaven-on-earth.

Just a tiny beachy boat launch, a dock, and a couple canoes.
What could be better for my tadpoles and fisherpersons?

It's been a new kind of lake experience this year because my four oldest
are big enough to skim the surface of the waters by themselves.

In go the tackle boxes, worms, and poles.
In go boys with high hopes.
Usually, they come out with fulfilled ambitions.
If not, there are always plenty of fish stories!

Some days back, these daring explorers donned goggles
and went to the the depths below in search of lost tackle.
Their efforts were rewarded (see picture below),
though note the precarious perch which was chosen to store this loot.
Not a mother-approved location, particularly since we actually have
places to keep things like three pronged hooks with barbs...

Alas there may be a day when ten year old boys don't live here
(I don't see that coming for another dozen years or so at least)
and I bet I'll miss finding piles of tangled rubber worms and fishing line :-)

I'm so glad I have fishermen.

Fishing is deep in the blood.
Some of my favorite memories with my favorite people are fishing memories.
I guess I have a few fish stories of my own :-)

I'm glad my children got some of those hand-on-a reel genes.

You know it's a good summery summer if I can't bring myself to the
ol' computer to dabble.  I've even left my camera behind on a few excursions!
With some moments to myself this evening ("myself" includes three other
small people, but that's actually almost lonely at our house. HA!) I thought
I'd bless the Grandma's with some pictures.

 Grandma's, we love you each so much.
Thank you for the legacy you've given us to pass on ~ of precious memories
and sweet times together. You knew how to do it!

We're learning.  Love you :-)

With a full heart,
~me