Raspberries

Well, it's now raspberry season again....already! I went out yesterday to pick for the first time. Man do I love it....reaching through the thorny branches, in search of the biggest, best berry. The thorns and thistles (since I haven't pruned my bushes) scraping at every piece of flesh they can find. The grasshoppers looking at me, with their beady, big eyes, and then jumping/flying towards me to scare me off 'their' territory. The bees and wasps, buzzing around, again, trying to stake their claim. And don't forget the spiders, crawling all over the bushes. And yet, I persevere.....in the RAIN.....just hoping to get enough berries to serve with dessert (angel food cake). Yes, the fun of raspberry season!

A New Revelation

Yesterday, we were at Home Depot with Art, and thought I'd pop into the garden department to check and see if they had their plants on sale yet. They did, so I picked up a few more perennials (yup, I'm addicted!). I picked up a(nother) hydrangea, as well as a couple of cone flowers and more creeping phlox. After the girls went to bed, I asked Art if he wanted to come and dig a couple of holes for me and hang out. As we were planting my last few plants, I had a revelation! I LOVE my perennial flower gardens. I do NOT love my garden garden. I spend hours in my flower gardens. I do NOT spend hours in my garden garden (and it shows!). And so, I realized.....I don't really like garden gardening....just flower gardening. Apparently, something in my mind doesn't want to be practical...Perhaps next year, I will stop making my husband crazy and make the garden half the size so it's practical AND gets weeded. Imagine that!

Summer Bliss!

Okay. So here's a quick little update as to what we've been up to. We had the family reunion, which was fairly fantastic! I was fun to catch up and visit with my dad's side of the family, some of whom I hadn't seen for 7 yrs. (that's when we only had 1 daughter...the way in which I gauge my life!). We played LOTS of bocce ball, ate LOTS of good fun, and had LOTS of good fun. I loved it! Thanks to everyone who came, and for all the help with getting food on the table!

After the family reunion, my parents took Hannah and Abby (along with 2 of my sister's kids) to Kelowna for the week. My sister stayed here for an extra 4 days, and we had an amazing time just hanging out and visiting. It's not often we get to talk and connect, since there are usually 9 kids around, but with just 3 kids here (1 of hers, 2 of mine), it was nice and quiet and relaxing....although I must say, I felt a little bit bad for Braden, who is 14....he was stuck here with 2 toddlers. Let's just say, he mowed the lawn....a lot! Trenna left on Thursday, and then on Saturday, we headed down to Calgary to meet up with my parents and pick up the girls. We had a little stop in Airdrie for a quick visit with one of my cousins (her husband has a shop, and he wanted to show it to Art), and then we checked into the Sheraton (thanks, Aunt Rhonda, for your family & friends discount!!) and waited for the girls to arrive. I must say, I missed them lots! At one point during the week, I called my parents to say hello to the girls, and I hear Hannah say, "I don't want to talk to my mom....then I'll get homesick again!". It was so great to see them running towards me and to hug them again. It's the first time that we've been apart for so long. They had a lot of fun at 'cousins camp', though, and are looking forward to it next time (too bad, mom and dad....now you have to do this every year!!). I must say, as a mother, there is something to be had for having all my little chicks together...it makes my heart happy! In Calgary, we spent the evening at the pool in the hotel. The older 3 are getting braver! Hannah & Molly loved the slides, and Abby actually would jump in the deep end of the pool (with a life jacket) repeatedly....yay!! The next day, we headed over to the Calgary Zoo for the day, which we all loved. It was perfect weather, and was great to walk around and see the animals. Here are a few pictures:

Let me explain this picture.....we had adjoining rooms, and so after we put the girls to bed in our room, we headed to my parents room and hopped into their bed to watch a movie. This picture looks a little odd, but I promise you people, nothing to see here!

What is a day with Nana and Grandpa without ice cream?!

All in all, it has been a great few weeks! Now that we are home, we've been relaxing and hanging out, having bbq's, and floating down the river. It is summer BLISS!

A Quick Update

So sorry to have been slacking in my blogging.....after the kitten incident, we left to go camping (first time as a family) for 5 days. Then, we came home just in time to unpack, do some laundry, and host our annual Canada Day Party. Now, I am getting ready for a family reunion which we are hosting this weekend. My parents come in tomorrow, my sister on Thursday, and the rest of the gang (I think there's only 35 or so) comes Friday. So, I don't have any pictures up (yet), but I will try and do that next week, after the chaos calms down! Good times, good times!