Mmmm... Washington fruit

Fran, the girls, and I struck out for U-pick berries in Carnation, WA on our free weekend morning yesterday.  Perfect day for berry picking- cool, cloudy, dry, and (fairly) empty stomachs!  We started with raspberries...

 

Not surprisingly, Nora really got into this.  Problem was, she's not so good with colors, so when Fran told her to only pick the really red raspberries, she went straight for the pinkish/white ones.  By taste trial and error, she figured out pretty quick which ones to pick.  I think these farms should charge your based on the weight of your flat of berries as well as the change in weight of your two-year-old... 

This was just the tip of the iceberg... see the picture below!  

Fran tells me the new baby likes fresh berries...

We switched to the blueberry patch.  Much easier for little hands to pick.  This was classic three-for-me, one-for-the-bucket!  Above is Erin's look after being gently reminded at least a FEW berries needed to make it in the bucket.
  

This series of photos is funny- here's our haul of berries.  I had to have the kids "show me their hands" for the picture or those grubby mitts would immediately be wrist deep in the goods.

Two seconds later... irresistible!

Nora watches... and sees that the rules are made to be broken.

(Soon to be) Big Sisters

 

Well, it's definitely summer in Seattle.  With the beautiful 80 degree weather outside, these photos I took after dinner tonight are one of the few times they've been inside and not asleep!  Erin offered to play "horsey" for Nora, who shrieked and squealed.  

 

We had a great vacation in Minnesota for two weeks at the end of June, thanks Grandma, Grandpa, and Laura!  Last weekend we did the annual camping trip with Fran's family at Memaloose along the Columbia River gorge.  Erin and Nora ran, swam, and played with their cousins for a couple days straight.  Both kids did well sleeping in a tent.  Not to be outdone, Fran and our 31 week old baby-to-be also curled up on the ground and (mostly) slept too.  Everything was going perfectly until I swallowed a bee during a bike ride with Muggy on Saturday, got stung in my mouth, and watched one half of my face swell up to grotesque proportions.  OK, maybe not that bad, but I'm finally getting back to normal now.  Time to start biking with my mouth closed! 

 

Fran has started working at Seattle Children's, which seems like a very big place compared to the community hospitals she's used been at.  Erin has started Zoom summer camp, and is thrilled (of all things...) with packing a lunch to take to school with her.  Hoping kindergarten will be a breeze, plus it's in English!  Nora seems to be getting excited to be a big sister, although we may not realize our goal of having her out of diapers before the new baby comes mid-September.