Cruise

 

I loved this song when I heard it on the radio.

Thought I would post the video,

and if you are of the male persuasion,

you'll probably appreciate the content.

Berry Picking

So my back cooperated with me on Sunday

and I actually got to get up and get productive

( a little bit).

There were three things I wanted to accomplish

1.  Laundry 

2.  Vacuum car

3.  Pick blackberries

I did all three - Yeah me!

Todd and I had an interesting time picking the

berries while the kids were at work.

I would point to where berries would need to 

be picked, and he would say, they're shriveled up

or too small.
I suggested he get some plywood or a board
to put down so we could stand on it,
and this is what he came out with.
A ladder.

Sorry about the sideways pic, but I turned it in the 

photography program and Blogger doesn't recognize it.

Hurumph!

I had high hopes and
I thought that we would get a small bucket full,

but sadly, we got about 1/4 of a bucket of blackberries.

We did, however, get about 1/3 - 1/2 of a bucket of wild plum

(and they are super yummy!)

It's pretty cool that they grow wild on our property.

It's a neat little perk, don't you think.

This took about 15 minutes to pick.

I could have had a full bucket,

but my hip/back started to hurt so I called it quits.

Our bounty.

 

It's a pretty messy job and Todd took the brunt of it.

But let me tell you, it was worth the work

when we ate those fresh picked blackberries

on top of our vanilla ice cream,

and had plums to snack on.

Life doesn't get any better.

Cuteness Explosion and the Weekend

Do you have any big plans this weekend?

I don't.

My back went out last Sunday, and it is still out.

I suffered through work this entire week,

so I am just chillin' this weekend.

I'm kind of a little sad that my back hurts 

because I really want to go kayaking again

and the California State Fair ends Sunday,

so I won't have an opportunity to do either.

Although it's probably not a bad thing that I'm

forced to stay home because my house looks

like a bomb went off inside.

This is my life!

Via

I love this little guy...

He's kind of shaped like me.

Till Monday friends.

Frankly

 

Fo' sho.

It's the Little Things

That make me the happiest!

I'm super excited because I have three new babies.

Baby watermelons that is.

They are so stinking cute I can't stand it.

Take a look.

 

 

Oh my goodness, aren't they the cutest!

 

We also have some pear tomatoes

 

and red cherry tomatoes.

 

Looks like our green beans are about done,

and the cucumbers are starting to dwindle.

 

It does look like we will have a few squash,

and a couple of strawberries,

but we'll have to wait and see if they survive

this stinking heat wave.

 

So are you having success with your garden this summer?

Sunset

The family had such a fantastic time on vacation,

we felt we needed to end it on an awesome note.

Todd, Lexx and yours truly decided to go

to the beach and watch the sunset

(Austin's sunburn was bothering him so he

crashed in the tent while the rest of us left).

 

Can I just say that it was amazing.

So beautiful, and right before sunset

everything had a beautiful golden glow.

 

Here a just a few of the pictures we took.

 

Sigh!

I miss it already.

Friday!

It was the longest week E-V-E-R!

It's so hard returning to work after a nice relaxing vacation.

I couldn't be happier that it's the weekend.

Plans - to clean up the house & then relax.

Me in total bliss getting ready to eat my S'more.

Hopefully I'll be as relaxed this weekend as I was in this picture.

Have a great weekend.

Botanical Garden

On Friday Todd and I wanted to go to the Botanical Gardens,

and the kids weren't too thrilled with the idea,

so the girl and boy went shopping and Todd

and I looked at pretty flowers.

 

Instead of commenting on each picture,

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

 

 

Todd and I spent most of the day at the gardens.

 

Alexxa and Austin's big shopping spree

produced a wallet and pair of socks.

BIG spenders.

 

The Botanical Gardens were just the beginning of the party.

We came back to camp and had a few more

things up our sleeves.

Guess you'll have to come back tomorrow

to see what we did.

Kayaking & Window Shopping

We decided we were going to dedicate an 

entire day to kayaking on Big River.

We were all pretty excited since this was the first 

chance we had to kayak since last summer. 

I tried to get a self portrait of us in the kayak...

I know, YIKES!

When we started off kayaking, the marine layer 

hadn't dissipated yet, so it was a little cold and dreary.

It made it hard to take decent pictures with my 

little point-and-shoot.

I did manage to get pictures of some of the wildlife 

that we encountered (all birds).

Can you see the little duck family?

At least I think they're ducks.

Then we saw what I believe was a heron.

I'm not sure what this bird was, 

but he was having a grand old time sunning himself on that log.

It slowly started to clear up and ended up being a beautiful day.

Throughout the day, we kayaked probably around 3 miles.

And as was usually the case, every time Todd and I turned around,

Alexxa was paddling and Austin was singing and kicking back.

See, Mr. Cool caught on camera!

Thor enjoyed the sun and all the attention 

that was being bestowed upon him.

We found a nice little spot to stop for lunch,

and Todd sliced up the left over bbq chicken

and we ate bbq chicken sandwiches, chips and fruit for lunch. 

It was a pretty little spot, and I really enjoyed 

stopping there until Todd pointed out that 

there was poison oak.

After we were finished kayaking,

we decided to stop at Mendocino and check out the happs.

Aust and Lexx mugged for a photo.

 

We strolled around the town, took pictures of the

beautiful houses and checked out some of the businesses.

Several people were preparing for the Mendocino Music Festival

which apparently was beginning the day that we left Fort Bragg.

I believe that this was either a studio or gallery,

but I loved how clean and colorful the area was.

This was in the window of one of the businesses,

and I thought that it was precious.

Can you tell what is out of place in this picture?

Hint:  It's on the top of the Ark.

It was very nice getting to soak up some sun, 

relax and enjoy the beautiful day.