Strawberry Pickin'

Today we headed to Fall Creek Farms to pick strawberries!  I love that Fall Creek Farm is just outside of our neighborhood.  Close to home, fun for us, fun for the kids, healthy (organic farm), and we all get to eat strawberries when we get home! What's not to love?

Bella was so excited that she was able to wear clothes that matched the occasion.

Check out that good-lookin' guy!

Bella showing one of our 2 boxes of strawberries.

I think Balian enjoyed the dirt just as much as the strawberries!  Check out that face :)

 Fall Creek Farm has all kinds of metal "things" throughout the land.  Grasshoppers, a Daddy-long-leg spider, a dung beetle... But this is the only one that is bright and colorful...We had to get a picture with the Ginormous Strawberry!

Isaiah had fun chillin' out with me while we picked our berries.  Leaning over to pick strawberries while wearing this guy made for quite a workout, but worked well.  Seriously.  If you haven't tried a back carry - you should try it - LOVE it.  Makes life so much easier!

Now...to make my 1/2 year's worth of strawberry jam...

This time I'm going to attempt to make an all-fruit version (no sugar added).  We'll see how it goes.

Mainstay Farm

We headed out somewhere close to the middle of nowhere - about 45 minutes away from us - to Mainstay Farm.  What a fabulous way to welcome Fall!  It was a beautiful day.  Although the temperature was up in the 80's, we had a nice cool breeze...and I got a bit of a sunburn...in October.  Is that possible?
(oh, and we actually remembered the good camera...even remembered to charge the battery...but the battery was left at home on the computer desk.  oh no!  so, you'll have to excuse my non-iphone camera capabilities with these pictures.)

The kids had a lot of fun.  They jumped on the jumping "pillow":

Played on the slides and playhouse:

Drove some pedal-carts:

Bella got her face painted:

And of course, we got some pumpkins.

We didn't have time for everything (like a hay-ride), but we had a lot of fun.  It was definitely a Saturday well-spent with the family.  Going back next year is a must!

Where was Isaiah through all of this?

Yes...he's asleep on my back.  This is the most incredible wrap technique I have found yet.  Isaiah took a nice 2-hour nap like this!  Even better - I had my hands free to help with the other two kids, and it didn't hurt my shoulders or back like crazy.  I didn't feel like I needed to re-adjust him and I didn't feel like I just "couldn't take it anymore" at any time...for 2 hours...while he was sleeping...in and out of sun and shade and walking around everywhere, going uphill and downhill, etc.  seriously amazing.  want to learn how I did it?  Go to http://www.wrapyourbaby.com/ and check out the link for back carries - there are some videos that show how to do it.  I used my Moby wrap this time around (with much help from Neil), but I think I'd rather have a non-stetchy wrap.  I've never really "gotten" the Moby wrap - it's never really felt tight enough or secure enough to go hands-free.  Perhaps it's more in the technique.  The moby worked fine...but it's too long for this purpose...I had to wrap it around my body a time or two with the extra fabric just to keep it out of the way.  Anyway, if you like to wear your baby, you should check this out.  Seriously great!

Strawberry Picking

There is a local organic farm about 5 miles from our house. They have lots of stuff - veggies, peaches, blackberries, etc. Now is the time for strawberries. They provide the boxes/baskets for you to pick with, and then you go and pick the berries that you want, and pay for them by the pound. We decided to try it out on Friday.

YUM!

Ft. Worth Zoo

My mom and dad both had the day off, and I've been wanting to get the kids out to do something fun during the day (so Neil can have some peace and quiet sleeping). So, we all went to the zoo today! It's about a 45 min - 1 hr. drive, so it's definitely a trip, but definitely doable with a bit of flexibility and lack of normal naps for the kiddos - but totally worth it!
Don't worry, I'm not posting a ton of animal pictures...although I did take a lot. Here's pictures of everything EXCEPT the animals from our trip to the zoo:


Bella with "Baby Judy Apple", who is now a girl instead of a boy since I made "her" a dress. You'll see that Judy Apple was part of the family today. She's in every picture with Bella :)



Bella and Poppy.


Poppy with Balian


Balian chillin' out in the stroller...

...then falling asleep eventually.

The four of us: Bella, Balian, Judy Apple, and I ;)

Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History

My mom, Bella, Balian, and I went to the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History on Tuesday. It was Bella's reward/celebration for learning all of her ABC's by recognition (knowing all the letters when she saw them...at random). She reached that accomplishment about a month or two ago, but between moving, unpacking, bad weather, and holidays, we haven't had a chance to go...until now! She had a blast playing in the Children's Museum - and Balian even had some fun too :)

Cumberland Island

So I posted about Orlando, but never got around to posting about cumberland Island. The day that Neil's parents left us, my parents came to visit for about a week. It was fabulous to be able to spend that much time with them for a change. They have been here twice in the past, once when Bella was born, and once for her first birthday. Both times they were here a grand total of about 2 days. And when I go home to visit, they are usually both working, so I still don't get to see them nearly as much as we did this time around - so wonderful!

The biggest thing we did while they were here was go to Cumberland Island, finally! We've lived here for 3 years and haven't been yet. Isn't it amazing how we never really do the "tourist" stuff where we live unless someone comes to visit? It's just crazy.

We took the Ferry from Downtown St. Marys to Cumberland Island at about 9am. We took a guided tour of all the ruins, and the history behind the island, then stopped to have lunch.

ready for a day of hiking...

some of the ruins...I think this is called the Dutchess.

Just a glimpse of our hike. I learned that Palmettos can survive forest fires, and the trees get all twisty-like because of the winds off the coast. interesting... and beautiful too!

Bella taking a catnap on Daddy's back...

Then we headed to the beach. And let me just say, it was the best beach I have ever been to in the States. Of course, the Atlantic coast is much better by far than the Gulf, but this tops all of the local beaches by FAR! better than Fernandina Beach, and better than Jax Beach...and the best part of all, was that because the only way you can get to the island is by boat, there were hardly any people there. :)

Me and my Daddy...

We headed back on the 2:45 Ferry - fully content with the amount of time we spent - and promising that we would return sometime soon. :)