Friday night the girls each had a friend spend the night: Kalli's best friend, Nicole, and her sister, Lauren. Before bed, as Kalli snuggles up with her blanket and sticks her thumb in her pie hole, I overhear the following conversation:
Nicole: So you still suck your thumb, eh?
Kalli: Yeah, but mostly at night.
Nicole: Why?
Kalli: Cuz its fun and it tastes good.
(At this point Nicole pops her thumb in her mouth and sucks).
Kalli: Tastes good, huh?
Nicole: Tastes like plain old thumb.
Kalli: Yeah, but its cool to suck your thumb.
Nicole: Okay. Let's start a thumb-sucking club. You can only join if you suck your thumb and think it's cool.
Wow. Thumb-sucking club membership is going to boom once word gets out on this one!! :)
Saturday we corraled the kids for "Family Day." I put that in quotations because we have to officially name the day in order to get the kids to realize it's just us and no one else. We headed out for Remlinger Farms, which is a prime raspberry picking venue. The weather was perfect and the kids were itchin' to pick.
Sean and the two older kids took on one row and Tuck, Kalli and I took on another one. (Inner-family conversation was still made possible through the raspberry bushes but we were able to make more efficient progress this way, according to Sean. :)
As we were picking, I decided it was a prime opportunity to teach my young brood about the natural/real-life allegory of picking the best things in life. We discussed which raspberries were the best ones to pick, which ones weren't apparently ripe and which ones were diseased and rotten.
I then asked them how raspberry picking was like picking friends. Tucker thought for a moment and then said, "You want to pick friends that are ready to be your friends." And Kalli threw in, "You pick friends that are sweet."
Sigh. Parental bliss. Check the big "Teach Your Kid Something Valuable Today" box.
Then things started to head south. Tucker perked up and added, "You don't want to pick friends with diseases. And you don't want to eat your friends." And Kalli chimed in with, "You don't want to step on your friends or they'll squish out blood" (This is where she stepped on a raspberry and smeared it into the dirt).
Well, I tried. That has to count for something.
After raspberry picking, we raided a blueberry patch on the way home. In all, we made it home with 40 lbs of raspberries and 5 lbs of blueberries. Plus the ones the kids ate when we weren't looking.
Tonight Sommer and Ben came over for games and homemade raspberry pie, which would have been quite a feat for us non-baking Sundwalls, except that halfway through dessert I casually asked Sean if he had washed the raspberries before making the filling and he casually replied he had not. Shortly thereafter I fished out a leaf and Katelyn squealed at the discovery of a live bug. The rest went in the trash. Sean redeemed himself, however, by making boat loads of raspberry freezer jam that will see us happily through the winter months.
Onward to another week. There is truly nothing like a Northwest summer! Out- Us
Bears In Trees! Sean and Tanner found a herd of onlookers on the Parkway on Saturday and stopped for a few shots. I think everyone who lives here has seen a bear, except for me.
Tanner, with Herculean strength, lifting a wooden box full of raspberries. Obviously the box was no match for his powers and succumbed to box-death. The raspberries survived, however.
Kalli. Being Kalli.
Girls with their friends Twister-ing like madwomen. Ah, to be young and limber. And to wear the pajamas we really love, with monkeys and ice cream cones all over them.
The boys and their friends eating pizza. Look closely. One of these things (one who just had surgery on his privates and thus dons a plastic satellite dish) is not like the other ones...
8 comments:
I wish we could have gone with you berry picking, we are looking for one in France. Loved the conversation -- it seems like most of ours start great but end up going south, usually about bodily functions or something of that sort, so I know what you meen.
This is a great post and summer in the Northwest IS about as good as it gets!
Wow send some of those raspberries my way! Wish we had farms like that to pick from.
Ok, you can add me to the list of people that hasn't seen a bear. Just last night we did the walk to lake Alice (which mind you is a bit earie) and I kept imagining some bear jumping out at us...now I know it really could have happened. I kept teasing the kids but guess I shouldn't...eeeeek!
That is so funny about the berry pie but at least he cooks. Pretty cool he can make jam too. He's quite the jack of all trades :)
The biggest problem wih the pie was that it called for salt and we were out of salt...at least the stuff you buy at the store. So I improvised and used some of the salt that is so plentiful on my arms and face after a long run in the heat of summer. It's way better salt than that crap you buy with the umbrella lady on the front.
I always love reading your blogs. They are always to creative and funny. The berry picking sounded like a fun adventure. You sure do have such adorable kids and you know that my Issy loves them!:) Thanks for the constant reading entertainment!:)
So, you secretly miss the monkey/ice cream cone jammies?
And this must be the famous comment about sweet bodily salt I've heard about! Very entertaining Sean!
Grossss comment from Sean. Too bad I missed out on the bug infested body sweat pie...hmm...
Mars, your blog is awesome. I've always loved how you write and share your life. You're awesome. I loved the conversations, the thumb sucking one and the berry/friend picking one. Kids are awesome!!
I miss ya. I am hoping to come back to WA sometime in Jan or Feb, maybe we can hook up then. Or, we'll be in Utah in July next year, for evah!! (Well for a while at least!) Thanks for being awesome at keeping in touch. I'm working on it!! :) Hugs - Syd
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