06.23.11

Carlsbad U-Pick Strawberry Fields

This year we decided to try something new in Carlsbad, U-Pick Strawberries. One would think since so many "middle-man" steps are cut out of the u-pick strawberry business (picking, packing, shipping, selling...) that these would be cheap, or at a minimum, comparable-in-price-to-the-grocery-store strawberries. Ya. NOT. Have you ever paid $8/lb for strawberries? I have. And they weren't even organic. All in the name of experience. And it was worth every cent...at least that's what I keep telling myself... :)

Tanner is a strawberry fanatic so we thought it would be a blast. Indeed it was fun and I think it will be even more fun next year (when we're C-bad residents...what?!) when Tanner has a better idea of what's going on. :) 

Mmmm!

Thank goodness for Spray-N-Wash stain stick... :)

Sweet Dixie...always so good with Tanner!

Dirt covered strawberries, a T-bomb favorite.

06.28.11

Del Mar Fair

The Del Mar Fair is always a fun summertime activity. There's much fun to be had for kids and adults alike. We all enjoyed seeing the farm animals, eating nasty fried fair food (fried butter, anyone?), walking through the vendor booths to see the latest inventions, and riding one ride. Many thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Packard who treated us to a day full of fun!

On the Dumbo ride with Daddy. We thought he might have fun... The third picture pretty much sums up the experience. I'm shocked we got as many content/happy pictures as we did!

Attempting to distract him through the end of the ride by asking him to "find mommy"!

"Thank goodness that's over!" ;) Needless to say, the rest of our tickets were passed off to cousins who would enjoy them a little more... :)

09.05.11

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day weekend. It was exactly what we needed it to be--relaxing mixed in with some fun. Saturday morning was spent cleaning the church with the youth (Jared and Tanner) while I went for a run and cleaned house a bit. Saturday mid-day and afternoon were spent relaxing, watching the BYU game (of course!), and most importantly, being together. To say that the last two weeks have been a little crazy would be an understatement so having time together was exactly what we needed. Then we topped off the day with a little BBQ at a new place up in Novato with the Standrings.

Monday was perfect. We had a slow morning and then spent pretty much the rest of the day hiking (near Stinson Beach) and at Stinson Beach with the Kurtz family. It was really nice to have a little time to get to know them. They have a great family and some awesome boys.

Tanner fussed for about three seconds when we first put him in the pack...then he realized how awesome it was going to be. I'm pretty sure he would be perfectly content if he lived his entire life outdoors. After the initial fuss, he hardly made a peep. And if he did make himself known, it was all joyful sounds. Right after these next two photos were taken, Jared dunked his head in a seriously cold stream. In fact, all the boys did. They tried to convince me, too...they obviously don't know me very well... :)

Not my best photo...but I still just love it. :)

After the hike we headed straight for the beach. Stinson was PACKED. But it was still thoroughly enjoyable. Tanner was definitely not digging the sand at first. But as you can see, he progressively warmed up to it.

We made many a sand pies...

At one point we discovered Tanner rolling around in the sand during which he must have been thinking to himself, "if sand is such an awesome toy, surely it must be tasty as well!" And before we could react...

Love these photos. Such a fabulous day.

08.15.11 - 08.20.11

Texas!

Last week Tanner and I headed out to Texas with Grandma and Auntie Chispa for a great week visiting family. It was so nice to have some casual time to visit with Ray/Deron/Dean and their families, Nandy and Papa, and Grandma Noble. It was stinkin hot, but we still had a tons of fun. :) We swam, ate lots of yummy food, chatted until the wee hours of the morning, walked through some seriously fancy Stadler Custom Homes, AND celebrated Krista's 19th birthday!!! A fabulous trip.

Love these cute pics--T and the Birthday Girl!

T getting tired of taking pics...

Random: It should be noted that Tanner loves Grandma more than me. T has become a mama's boy over the past couple of weeks. But when Grandma's around, he is 100% Grandma's boy for sure.

Tanner was thrilled to see the love of his life (any large hunk of metal with an loud engine) up close and personal. Yay for tractors and an open five acres to roam free--every boy's dream come true!

08.19.11

FIVE Generations!

I've only been looking forward to taking this picture for the last 27 months or so. I finally got it. And I can't deny, I am thrilled. It turned out fantastic. Tanner's sweet great great Grandma Noble turned 95 just a couple weeks ago and is still doing great. It was such a treat to visit her.

Tanner with great great Grandma Noble.

 

Many thanks to Mom and Dad for making this trip (and picture) possible. :)

08.13.11

Our Humble Garden

This year I decided to plant a garden. Our first year in San Rafael, my garden failed. Miserably. I felt completely nauseated most of the time (prego!) and thinking about what to cook/do with a fresh tomato made me want to vomit. Thus, the garden dropped to rock bottom of my priority list. Last year, I was preoccupied with my small child and it didn't really cross my mind.

So, this year was the year. And much thanks to Matt and Annie, I added three or four more pots to my very small collection. Despite my black thumb, I've been determined to make a garden work this year. We've already had some failures (cilantro, basil), but I've been thrilled with my small successes. Gives me hope that someday I might actually have a producing "real" garden! Here is the progression of our humble garden that our landlord seemed to think was completely hilarious. :)

April 23rd
back row: tomato, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, strawberry
front row: bell pepper, basil

May 11th
back row: tomato, tomato, cucumber, strawberry (unseen)
front row: basil, bell pepper, bell pepper

There's that strawberry plant.

Our first harvest of the garden was this little berry...when it was ripe, of course.

May 21st
The lucky one who got to eat said strawberry.

And sadly didn't enjoy a bit of it, despite being a serious strawberry lover.

July 31st
REAL produce! Wahoo! We celebrated and ate falafels with homegrown cucumber and tomatoes. Fabulous.

This is a Japanese cucumber, very similar to the English cucumber, with a hint of lemon. So yummy!

August 13th

The success of this garden can be largely attributed to the most loving and adorable gardener I ever laid eyes upon.

Sometimes the patio gets thirsty, too.

Every time we walk out on the patio, Tanner can be found admiring all the plants, "watering" the plants with the hose off, and squishing our largest, most beautiful strawberries to death. (Guess that's what I get for picking a strawberry right in front of his eyes and then handing it to him to let him eat. :) That's why we only require some minor assistance here and there... :)

I look forward to the day we have a yard and a very large garden. :)