Blueberry Picking 2012

Here are some pic's of the kids picking blueberries.  We went a little earlier in the summer this year and I think we hit it just right.  There were tons of big fat blueberries for the picking.  Lauren for the most part picked the blueberries and ate them.  Matt, Jake and Josh are experts at finding the big fatties (Matt's make for them)

Jake and Lauren as blueberries

Matt pretending to pick Lauren

 Josh allowing me to take a picture:)

We  had so much fun picking the blueberries and there were so many big fatties that we didn't realize how many we had picked.  What a bumper crop!  Yup, the scale says 10 pounds!

 For the ride back home Jake popped open the box and snacked away.   They are delicious.

The Uno Champion of 2012 is...

MATT!

Here Matt is receiving the trophy.  Way to go Matt.  We are thrilled that the trophy will once again be in our possession.  Way to represent the family:)

Here is the brackets that Matt made and everyone's name as they progressed in the composition.  U.P. stands for Uncle Paul

The trophy has officially been "engraved" to reflect this years winner.

Beach Art

Josh has  his own comic strip that he has developed.  We have even copyrighted it so he can share without fear of someone taking his idea.  Here is a head shot of the main character in Shortheads.
Great job Josh!

Summer Fun

We are having a fun summer this year. SO much better than last year. Here are some pictures of random fun. Matt with the lobster hat.

Jake with the moose hat.

A trip to the big candy store. Lauren picked out the BIG lollipop. So cute.

The kids and I having lunch out. Such a beautiful view. This was before we headed out to go crabbing.

Lauren loves her some crabs. I know the look on her face says otherwise, but I assure you she was loving all the crabs we caught.

Jake and a crab.

At my friends beach house. Lauren filled up the stroller with babies and put on some high heal shoes and was off on an adventure. She cracks me up.

It was windy at the beach. Jake went home got a kite kit and brought it back to the beach. He assembled it by himself (mostly). Jake undid some string, threw the kite in the air and off it went. Very impressive. That is the blimp kite up in the corner of the picture. Lauren is tagging along and enjoying Jake's spirit.

Take me out to the ball game

We had a great time checking out the college all stars league the other night. Good baseball, good hotdogs, small crowd. Fun.

Matt and Jake got picked to play dizzy bats in between innings. They had to put their foreheads on the bat and spin around it in circles and then run to the mascot.  Matt was the first to the mascot. Jake took the game very seriously and managed to get a cut on his forehead where he had put his head on the bat:(

Here is a video of the actual dizzy bat race.  The announcer captured Jake's feeling at the end wit his comment that yet again the big brother wins the race.

The little things

My boys are getting older and it is bittersweet. I love the young men they are growing into but I do love my little boys. No one has used the shovels to dig holes at the beach this year; they no longer use the buckets or boats. They now bring books to read when they are not swimming or boogie boarding. They also prefer to sit in a chair or lay out on a blanket. So when I come across little lego ships like this parked somewhere in the house or on the porch it makes me smile. I do love being a mom to my boys.

Crabby Days of Summer

We have been enjoying some great weather at the beach this summer. Lauren loves to visit the rocks at low tide and search for crabs. We look everyday. Most times a bigger kid will let Lauren have one of his/her crabs to put in her bucket. Lauren and I are getting better at finding small crabs ourselves too. Lauren loves her crabs. She likes to hold them in her hand and play with them on a towel (watch them walk around). At the end of the day we walk them back to the water and send them home to their Moms.

My friend Cynthia and I kicking off the beach season with a Bloody Mary. Mmmmm, so good.