June 12

I thought this Friday was going to be a pretty dull one, but it definitely turned out to be an action-packed adventure day!

We stared the day by picking berries. I found a farm nearby that still had some strawberries to pick, as well as some raspberries whose season had just begun. Knowing that an almost 6-year-old, 4-year-old, almost 2-year-old, and mama with a baby strapped to her wouldn't be the most productive berry pickers, I lowered my expectations for what we would gather. I'm glad I was prepared. We got maybe a pound of strawberries, and three half-pint boxes of raspberries. But  the kids had a blast!

Strawberry picking was no fun for me (still-healing broken leg + baby on me = crouching or squatting is very awkward), but raspberries were awesome.

Yes, Daisy wore a leotard to pick raspberries. Why not?

Sweet Eli slept on my back almost the whole time. It was my first time wrapping him on my back in public, and we did it right in the middle of the strawberry field. You gotta do what you gotta do!

Lily exercised remarkable restraint when it came to not eating the raspberries. She was also a very careful berry picker, and handled the walking like a champ. I was thoroughly impressed with her.

When we finally finished, they feasted in the van as we drove to gymnastics!

We got to gymnastics super-early, at 11:08. The parking lot was packed, so I decided we should drive around for a while until those people left and we could find a parking spot. When I returned at 11:22, it was still full, so we parked on the street and went in...only to find that they had changed the time, and gymnastics actually began at 11:00, not 11:30.

Bummer!

Luckily, the kids were able to join in and still had a lot of fun.

Then we went home and everyone took awesome naps. The little ones napped for well over three hours, and Caleb and I even napped with Eli for close to two hours. It was just what we needed! While we napped, a thunderstorm rolled through. All of the kiddos slept through it, but there were still rumbles of thunder when everyone woke up. We went to the front porch to watch the storm and wait for Chris to get home.

Lily thought reading in the rain was a good idea.

Doesn't Caleb look like a moody teenager?

After a quick dinner (hot dogs, apple chicken sausages, green beans, and baked beans), the storms disappeared and we headed out for a family ice cream night. Since I'm the only one who needs to be dairy free, it was an acceptable splurge. I chose some raspberry and lemon sorbet that I really hope was dairy free; I didn't ask at the store, and I can't find anything official online. I suppose only time will tell.

Chris and I both shared our ice cream with Lily.

Daisy chose cherry ice cream, and was quite pleased with it.

Caleb really wanted the Superman ice cream that was full of horrifying artificial colors, but I couldn't condone that. He settled for cherry, which is still probably full of Red Dye #40. Oh well. 

I wore Eli on my back, and we all enjoyed our treat.

We paid a visit to Lewis and Clark and their brave dog, Seaman.

And my Daisy was delighted to find a grove of daisies. 

It was a wonderful evening. Of course, it meant that the kids didn't get to bed until 9:30, but hey - it's summer! 

We will pay the consequences tomorrow.