Blackberry time

Tonight we went blackberry pickin' at our favorite blackberry patch. It was the perfect evening, kinda cool and cloudy and it even sprinkled on us a little. We look forward to doing this every summer. It makes for fun memories and yummy pies. In the morning the kids and I are going to make our favorite blackberry recipe. Try it, it is so easy and I can not even tell you how delish!

Blackberries and Cream Pie

1 prepared 9" unbaked pie shell

4 cups fresh blackberries

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place berries in unbaked pie shell. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and the next 5 ingredients together. Pour over berries in pie. Bake at 425 for 10 minutes then turn down to 350 degrees and continue baking for about 25 more minutes till crust is nicely browned and filling is set. Best served slightly warm.

When we got home it started pouring. Perfect timing!
Here is the link to the berry farm http://firstfruitsberryfarm.com/

The drive-in

What is it about the drive-in movie that makes the world seem right? Maybe it is the songs booming over the speakers, background music for all the dads and kids playing ball in front of the screen before the show starts.

Maybe it is that no matter how blistering the summer day was, it always seems to be a perfectly cool, breezy night.

Maybe it is the sight of children in their pjs with their blankets, ready to drift off during the late night show.

Maybe it is the peaceful feeling you get when your eyes wander above the screen onto the millions of stars and the shining moon gazing over you.

Maybe it is just looking down and seeing my family all together, snuggled up, engrossed in the show, even if the the show isn't that great.

Whatever it is, I love the drive-in. And it has nothing to do with the movies.



Everyone comes early to get a space and play before the movie starts.

I know! Ridiculous. And my junior mints didn't even make this photo.

I promise this picture was not posed. It is Cole enjoying the pre-show fireworks.

And Cole enjoying the movie. Looks like the aftermath of some kind of crazy diet coke-sprite-germX frat party.

Look! I made this! I did!

and

Uh huh, I got skilz.

Tonight one of my BFFs, Marcie, and I took a sushi-making class taught by a lovely Japanese sushi master.

For some reason the whole time the teacher was talking I couldn't kick the urge to spend some time with Kim and Natalie.

It took me and Marcie all we had to behave in that class. Everything was just so stinkin’ funny to us. And the odd thing was no one else seemed to have noticed all the funnies. It was puzzling. I believe I recall that phenomenon happening with Marcie when we were in classes together in jr. high. And high school. And college. It was equally puzzling back then.

If you get a chance to take a cooking class at Francis Tuttle, it really is fun. We’ll be going back. And, as stated previously, because of this class I now have a brand new skill. And it’s for life. For life.

Exercise Shmexercise

I took my camera with me on a family walk because I am excited that it is spring and time to be outside again. I wanted to capture the springiness and put it on my blog. Upon viewing the photos when I got home, the theme of my post changed. I discovered that these pictures represent why I do not get a lot of intense exercise on our family walks. I’ve noticed I just don’t seem to get much momentum going. Sweating is rarely involved and there is little to no heart rate increase. And quite honestly, where are the toned calves? So now the mystery is solved. Here is how the ol’ family walk plays out.

Walk walk walk STOP
Pet the neighbor’s dog

Walk walk walk STOP
Explore creek

Walk walk walk STOP
Wait for climbing of dead tree on side of road

Walk walk walk STOP
Dodge scooter making figure 8 in path. Repeat 12 times.

Walk walk walk STOP
Dodge middle-of-the-road football game

Walk walk walk STOP
Wait for tired child to be picked up and carried

And now, thanks to my camera, I know. Family walks are for fun, not for workouts.

Treadmills are for workouts.

And because I am so kind, and my treadmill has been resting so peacefully, I shall not disturb it.

So on with the fun. I'll have toned calves in heaven.

Pajama run!

We just got home from a pajama run. I got this idea from some brilliant moms on a message board I frequent and it has definitely become a family favorite.

Here’s how it works. You tuck your unsuspecting kids snuggly in bed for the night. You wait about 10 minutes or so, just before they actually fall asleep. You yell “PAJAMA RUN!!!!!!!!!” and you move out of the way of your stampeding, giddy children. You head to Sonic in PJs and have whatever ice cream you want.

I highly recommend this activity. You will love how much joy the surprise and spontaneity brings to your kids and in turn to you. The first time we did this Riley said “I can’t believe other people are out this late!“ It was about 9:30. I know, I know, it seems so wrong to pull your small people out of bed when you have finally gotten them there. But trust me, it is so worth it!