Berry Picking and Family Visits

Have we told you lately that we love the NW?  Because we do.  A lot.  One of my favorite things about the NW are the berries.  In May/June there are amazing red strawberries, in July there are raspberries and blueberries and marionberries, and in August/September there are blackberries growing like weeds.  

During the blur of my first trimester, Ryan was a champ.  (I may have said that once, but its worth repeating!)  I was feeling guilty for the obscene amounts of PBS & Disney Junior my kids were watching, so he took the boys blueberry picking at a local farm.  Both boys.  By HIMSELF.  AND he even took pictures.  Did I mentioned my husband is awesome?  

Sam figured out how to do it right away and started filling up our giant bucket.

CHEESE.  (ps Look! Sunshine!!! It does happen occasionally :)

Austin figured out that those blue things are delicious and picked them like a wild man.  Unfortunately, none of his made it into the bucket.

Hide the evidence Austin!

Austin and his friend (Ryan met up with a co-worker & his family) parked themselves next to a good patch and picked everything within reach.

Afterwards, Ryan took the boys to Burgerville and splurged for a kids meal.  Sam told me all about the "spicy drink" aka soda once he got home.  I would call that a successful Father & Son outing :)

This summer we were lucky enough to have lots of family come to visit at different times!  First Auntie Rae-Rae & Uncle Paul came to watch the kids while I was playing, uh I mean serving, at Girls Camp with my awesome Beehives and the other YW in our ward :)  Thanks so much to Rae-Rae & Paul for your help!  For some reasons I have no pictures from your visit though.  Send me some.

Then Auntie Al came and we had a blast hanging out together.  May not seem like a big deal, but the last time I saw Al for more than a couple of hours was before Austin was BORN!  Love having her and Jon back in the US.  One day we headed to the the downtown library with the boys.

Austin warmed up to Al right away.  Probably because she looks just like me :)

The downtown library is really fun and has all kinds of learning toys for the kids.  I walked around the corner to find Sam putting together gears and then turning them to make sure all the connections worked.  What a smartie!  Where did I get this kid?!

Both Sam & Austin love their Auntie Al.  Bribery always helps too :)

Next we had Aunt Lew and the soon-to-be Uncle Sean stop by for a few days!  The kids love their newest Uncle and had a great time at the Oregon Zoo with them.

Finally, we got to see Grandpa Earl for a few hours while he was on the ground at PDX.  We got to the airport early so we could see Grandpa pull the airplane up to the gate.  The airport is pretty much the kids favorite place, so it was a fun day!

Captain Sam (who was so excited and busy looking at all the buttons and dials and screens he couldn't look up for a photo op)

First Officer Austin.  VVvvrrooom!  (Austin's word for airplane at the moment)

Sorry for the long, long post but I have a lot of catching up to do :)  It was a fun summer!