Blueberry Picking!

The other day, I took the kids to go do one of my all-time favorite activities --- Blueberry Picking!  I had heard about a family-owned farm in Watertown, and I really wanted to go.  I think blueberry picking is one of the most relaxing activities there is.  We used to go to a little farm near us in New Hampshire to pick blueberries, and I swore I could have stayed there and picked all day long.  There's something so meditative about it.  So on Tuesday morning, we all jumped in the car and headed out to get some blueberries.

Forty minutes later, we ended up at Evergreen Berry Farm, which was one of the cutest places in the world.  Even the little old couple running the place were super cute.  

The kids and I went up to the old wagon, grabbed some buckets (that hung around our necks with a piece of ribbon!), and set off to the huge blueberry field.

Even Max enjoyed being there.  He was very content in his backpack.  He was especially happy when I passed him back an occasional blueberry or two.... 

Both Stella and Colby really enjoyed picking blueberries.  I think it's important for kids to see where our food actually comes from; it doesn't just magically appear in the grocery store.  And I think they liked having a role in getting the food they eat.  (Plus, they thought it was great to eat about every other berry they picked!)

A few minutes into blueberry picking, Max got smart and realized that if he reached hard enough, he could also get some blueberries.  It was pretty funny to see his little fat hand reaching around me.



Max with a mouthful of blueberries

At the end of our time at Evergreen Berry Farm, we had about 1 1/2 pounds of blueberries (not counting the countless berries the kids ate!).  By the next morning, all of the berries we picked were in our bellies.  We might need to go back next week.....

Our little Maine Vacation

This time I have a really good excuse for not writing at all last week.... we were up in Maine at Dad's for the week.  Kelsey and I drove up separately last Friday afternoon.  It was a torturous ride up.  Apparently, everyone else from Connecticut and Massachusetts had the same idea and thought that they should also drive up to Maine and leave at the exact same time as us.  What is usually about a 4 1/2 hour trip took almost 8 hours.  Granted, that included an extremely long dinner stop (which is what happens when traveling with a 1 year old who takes an hour to eat while he looks around at all of the other people at the rest stop, and a 3 year old who has to use the potty three times.).  We were quite the popular people at the rest area.  While Kelsey was taking Colby to the bathroom (for the third time), Stella, Max, and I got asked by a group of Asian teens if they could pose with us for a picture.  I believe the actual question was, "Can I please have a picture with you and your beautiful American family?"  How could I say no to that?!  The next thing I knew, I was standing in a huge group of people while holding Max and clinging to Stella, while at least 10 others lined up with their cameras to take pictures of us.  It was quite a sight. 

Anyway, we made it safely to Dad's house and went straight to bed so that we would be ready for a day at the lake. 

We spent the entire weekend at the trailer.  The weather couldn't have been any better.  Saturday was a really fun day.  Joining us at the lake was Christie and her two sons, Max and Sam, as well as Max's girlfriend, Ashley.  Stella was very concerned about having two Maxes there, and instructed all of us to call our Max, Maxton (because, as she said, "What if we say, 'Max, did you poop your pants?'  We don't want the other Max to think we're talking to him.  That would be embarrassing."  Good thinking, Stella.)  Jeff and Hesty also came up for the day.  We all had a great time getting to know each other while we hung out on the beach, went out on the boat, and sat around the campfire.  We are looking forward to spending more time with Max, Sam, and Ashley.

Sunday was another great day at the lake.  Jeff and Hesty hung out for part of the day before heading back home.  Again, we spent most of our time on the beach which was the kids' favorite place to be for all of last week. 

Colby "grilling" with Daddy at Bupa's trailer

 Kelsey was able to take Monday off of work, so he had a long weekend up at Dad's before having to return home.  The kids and I stayed up there until this past Friday and we had such a fun week. 

 All three kiddos LOVED the lake and LOVED being in the water.  It was fun to watch them become more and more comfortable in the water as the week went on.  Even Max became fearless in the lake.  He loved doing this sequence of motions over and over again.  First, he would do his Frankenstein-style walk into the water.

He would walk until he would fall down.  Usually he would go right under the water.

Then he would pop right up with a huge grin on his face, clap his hands, and then do the sign for "more."  Then he'd crawl back out of the water like a little sea creature and do it all over again.  This never got old for him.

  

Stella grew leaps and bounds at the lake.  The girl who used to refuse to put her head under water is now SWIMMING under water.  She is so incredibly proud of herself... and she should be!  We're so proud of her.  I took this video the day she learned to do this so that we could email it to Daddy.  She couldn't wait to show him her new trick.

And, of course, Colby had to make a video for Daddy too.  He can put his head underwater too now, but kept doing it when I didn't have the camera with me.  He decided to make a video talking to Daddy. 

While we were up in Maine, I made plans to get together with my college roommates Amanda, Molly, and Robin.  The four of us lived together during my junior year of college and we haven't all been together since Molly's wedding 6 years ago.  Now we all have kids (Amanda and Robin just had their first ones recently), so we met up at an indoor play place called Peek-a-Boo.  It was really great seeing them and meeting their beautiful babies. 

L-R:  Robin with 11 week old son, Isaac; Amanda and 5 month old Annabelle; me and Max; Molly with 14 month old Mia

Here's my 3 having a snack at Peek-a-Boo

 

Stella loved playing with Baby Annabelle (Amanda's little one).  And, judging from her smiles, I think Annabelle loved Stella too!

Colby, rocking the trampoline!

I can tell the kids had a wonderful time at Bupa's because since we've been home, they've been total grumps.  They have been talking about our week in Maine non-stop and can't wait to go back. 

Thanks, Bupa!

 

Max's New Trick....

Uh, oh.  Look out.  Max is a walking man now.  He's been taking a step here and there for a few weeks now, but this weekend he decided to take off.  It's amazing how fast he is learning.  Each time he tries, he walks a little bit further.  He's pretty proud of himself too.

This was Max last night.... he could only do a few steps in a row. 

And, today he was doing a whole lot more (and of course he walked way more when the camera was no where near us!).

 (Pay no attention to the garbage bags in the hallway.... they were holding all of Stella and Colby's stuffed animals since the lice infestation a few weeks ago.  Today, we finally got to break them free!)

Yay Max!

Jamestown

Our July started off with a trip to Jamestown for (yet another) cousin's wedding.  My little (giant) cousin, Eric, got married to his longtime, sweet girlfriend, Becca.  We haven't been to Jamestown in almost two years, so it was really great to go back and see everyone.  Now that we live in Connecticut, the drive to Jamestown is about 3 hours shorter.  We still split the trip up and stayed overnight in Binghamton, NY which was our halfway point.  The kids LOVE staying in hotels.  We stayed up late playing in the pool and dancing around our room.... until Max found a comfy spot and passed out.

We drove the rest of the way into Jamestown the following morning and went right to my Aunt Hom (her real name is Shari... long story.) and Uncle Rick's house where we were going to stay for the weekend.  Their house is so cute!  It's an old, cozy home with lots of character and a fabulous backyard where Stella, Colby, and Max spent most of their time.  Aunt Hom and Uncle Rick's daughters, Leigh and Lindsey, were home for the wedding too.  Leigh flew in from Seattle, where she just got an amazing job as a massage therapist for people with cancer.  She has had so many adventures in her life (including a year in Thailand, where she shaved her head and lived with monks!)... I like to live vicariously through her.  And Lindsey was home for a short visit from Maine, where she is going to school at the College of the Atlantic.   You can currently find her as a deckhand on a lobster boat tour that goes out of Bar Harbor (previously, you could find her in Ireland playing with goats, in Alaska, or hiking the Appalachian Trail.).  Adventure runs in this family! 

We had some time to visit and have lunch before we had to get ready for the wedding.  Colby was too excited to nap at all that day, so he decided to start a nap pretty much as we were pulling into the church parking lot.  He slept through the entire ceremony, waking up just in time to see Eric and Becca coming back up the aisle!

Meanwhile, Max was happy as can be hanging out with Bupa.  He wanted nothing to do with me!  And, of course, Stella loved the ceremony and seeing the beautiful bride in her wedding dress.

The reception was lots of fun.  We had a great time eating, dancing, and watching fireworks.  Our little social butterfly, Stella, had several best friends moments after we arrived and the little group of girls ran around giggling and dancing for the entire night.  Colby also found a little friend to hang with.  They were much quieter.  In fact, I don't think a single word was exchanged between the two of them.  They did, however, have a wonderful time throwing rocks into the pond together. 

Colby also showed off some crazy dancing skills on the dance floor.  He has some sweet moves!  He and Stella were dancing until about 10:30 that night.  It was hilarious to watch them!

It was a really lovely wedding, and it was so great to spend some time with my family.

  

Eric, the groom, and 3 of my other cousins:  Nicki (in yellow.  Eric's sister), Lindsey (in purple flower dress), and Leigh

 

 (Can you tell how tired Stella is?)

The next day was spent visiting with my dad's side of the family at my cousin, Danielle's, house which is on her husband's family's farm.  (coincidently, his name is Dave Gustafson... no relation.  Believe it or not, Gustafson is a common name in Jamestown....)  I have loads more cousins on that side of the family, and they all came to hang out along with my aunts, uncles, and grandparents. It was fun catching up with everyone.

And, it wouldn't be a Gustafson family get together without a photo session.  When we were kids, we would  all celebrate Christmas together and sometime during that day, Papa would announce it was picture time.  All eight kids would have to sit, one at a time, while my grandpa would first try to figure out how the camera worked and then get within inches of your face for a close up photo.  These pictures were then cut out and hung up on the fridge until the following year, when a new portrait would be taken.  The pictures never came out great, because while one cousin would be waiting for their picture to be taken, the rest of us would be behind Papa trying to make them laugh. 

So, of course, Papa had his camera and had to take photos.  Thankfully we didn't have to do individual ones, but we did have to do each family seperately.   And, yes, there were certain cousins (not mentioning any names... Melissa) who were hopping up and down behind Papa trying to make us laugh.

 

All of the little ones in this photo are the great-grandchildren of my grandparents... some of the mommies had to help in staging this one.  Aren't they all so cute??

It was another fun day visiting with family.  It was neat to see so many little babies... some I had never met before.  It was also neat to see my cousins as parents for the first time. 

After that, we headed back to Aunt Hom and Uncle Rick's house where my Aunt Shelly, Uncle Jerry, cousin Nicki and her husband, Ryan, and my grandparents were.  The kids had a blast playing on the trampoline with Nicki.  She could get them bouncing so high.  They still talk about this everyday.

Stella and Colby also got to go on a little ride, courtesy of Uncle Rick.  They thought this was great.

Then we had a campfire and roasted marshmallows and made s'mores.  How could this get any better??  After the kids (finally!) went to bed, the grown ups sat around the fire talking and singing silly songs (that the women found funny anyway!) until it was time for bed.

After all of that hard playing, it was very hard to get the kids up in the morning.  Aunt Hom made us a yummy breakfast of pancakes with blueberry sauce and then it was time to head back home to Connecticut. 

We had so much fun in Jamestown, and really hope to get back there soon!



So Many Things.....

Ouch.... three weeks since my last post?  Wow.  Sorry!  And I was beginning to get on a good routine of writing every few days.  What happened was my laptop died on me, and that's where ALL of my photos are stored and, well, where I feel most comfortable writing.  My laptop is still dead, but I have given in and am currently using Kelsey's laptop (which isn't as cool as mine, though he will argue that point).  So.... where to begin?  So many things have happened since Stella's Flag Day concert.  

                          

I guess we'll start with..... Stella lost her first tooth!  It fell out in the car on our way up to Dad's house a few weeks ago.  She was beyond excited and was sort of sad that the Tooth Fairy was going to take it away because she wanted to show all of her friends.  She was very curious as to what the Tooth Fairy was going to bring her;  she had heard from a friend at school that he got a $10 bill and from Mommy and Daddy that we got a quarter.  The Tooth Fairy settled somewhere in between.....  Now Stella is working on loose tooth #2. 

We had so much fun up at Dad's.  The weather was gorgeous and we spent the whole time swimming in the lake, playing on the beach, and relaxing at the trailer.  The kids loved being in the water and were in the lake almost the entire time.

Colby playing "ice cream" with Max. 

We even got out on the boat while we were there.  Colby and Stella loved it... Max, not so much.  It was his very first boat ride and I don't think he liked his life-jacket too much.  And, even though the water was a bit choppy, both Kelsey and I waterskied.  I haven't been able to do that in a few years so I was pretty impressed with myself when I got up on the first try... twice!  The kids think Mommy and Daddy are pretty cool now (especially after watching Daddy's major wipe-out after coming over the wake a little too fast!).

It was such a great weekend, and we are looking forward to getting up there again next weekend!

I still can't believe my little baby boy turned one.  We had a fun birthday with Max. Dad and Christie came down to celebrate with us and we had a great dinner together (courtesy of Kelsey's grilling skills).  And, of course, we had birthday cake.   

 

Max LOVED his cake.  At first, it was just fun to squish it with his hands, but once he realized he could eat it too... he was pretty happy.   

                                     

Max got a really fun birthday present from Bupa (picked out by Christie!)... the giant dump truck.  This has been the best toy.  All three kids LOVE to play with this and there are constant arguments over who get to play with it. 



When Max first got his truck, he thought it was so much fun to ride in it while Colby and Stella pushed him around.

Then, he realized just how much fun it was to be the one pushing his siblings around!  This boy is strong!

And, I leave you with this.....  This picture shows one of the perks of my "job."  Storytime has always been one of my favorite times of our day, and I've been lucky that all of my kids have loved reading.  In this picture, we are reading "Goodnight Gorilla." This was Stella and Colby's favorite book... and now it is Max's.  He will crawl down the hall to his room, get this book, and crawl back with it and give it to me to read to him.  And I will drop whatever I'm doing to read it, because, really?  How could you say "no" to that?    Mom gave me this book as a gift when I was pregnant with Stella.  That makes this book even more special... it's fun knowing that my kids still enjoy a present from Nama almost everyday.

So, now you're caught up with the month of June.  I hope to be back on here in the next couple of days to fill you in on our busy July.... 

Thanks for checking in!