STRAWBERRIES!!!

The Strawberry season is upon us and there is strawberry signs all around. It makes me want to eat them all day long. What can you do with strawberries?; strawberries on ice cream, strawberry milkshakes, strawberries over cereal (cheerios works best), strawberry pie, strawberries and cream Frappachino at Starbucks(this morning!!), Strawberry jam (thanks mom those 16 jars won't last long), strawberry and rhubarb crisp or pie or plots, strawberry shortcake (ah the memories or childhood toys and all her lovely friends- those were the best smelling toys ever!). There's got to be a million different things you can do with strawberries besides just love eating them by themselves. We had a great time picking strawberries while mom was here. Actually we were having trouble finding a place to get strawberries as everyone else seemed to have the same idea and the patches were getting all picked in the morning so by the time we were ready to go they were closed for the day only to open the next day and so on. We spent 2 1/2 hours making French style creapes (spelling???) only to find there were no You Pick strawberry patches open that night so we went to a Picked For you place just to have some. You can't invite 4 people over for supper and have the 3 of us and 2 o r3 kid's with no strawberries so off we went and got some. Later that night mom had some friends from out of town call her back and invite us to the place were they were working (a strawberry patch of a family member of theirs). This nice couple comes out to help out her sister for the strawberry season. I think she does it to benefit from her sisters large supply of strawberries. She and mom had a great visit while they were picking and her all about the tons of strawberries they pick and jar to take home with them. My mind wondered back to a great strawberry picking experience I had with some of my girl friends. I am sure they will never forget it either. It happened a few years ago (in my family you can say it happened a few vehicles back) and it will be a strawberry picking experience never to repeat. The few of us girls all wanted strawberries for jam or just eating. So I offered to drive and off we went to a patch in a nearby town. I think the town was suppose to be about 1 hour away. Well, we got onto a dirt road just off the highway heading in the right direction and just as we went over the railroad tracks we heard the loudest 'bang' noise and thought - "strange I've never heard that before" and as my car slowed down I realized something for sure was wrong. We got out of the vehicle and realized my clutch had just went and that was the end of our chances to get strawberries that day. We called for a tow truck and while we waited we debated how long the walk would be to the patch as we had just seen the sign for it up ahead. We picked wild flowers and roamed in the tall field grass, sat on the road and just talked and waited. The tow truck fit all of us girls inside and the vehicle was brought back into town. Once at the auto body shop we walked over to get a cold drink and a phone and ended up in some dingy pub that none of felt comfortable in so used the phone and left. Decided to wait at the nearby donnut shop for John (I think or was it Cory? ) to pick us up. Anyways, to end the story it was the most expensive strawberry experience I had. $1500 later and no strawberries we decided that someone else should drive and we tried it again a few weeks later. Those were the best tasting strawberries ever (or maybe I just thought so, as there was so much effort just to get them). Thanks girls those are memories I treasure and laugh at and appreciate those moments we had together!!

Entertained

Keeping my own kids entertained is usually not very hard and having another one every morning sure adds to the mix. The imagination of a three year old is usually pretty entertaining in itself and the two year old is great at making the time more energize. When the boys and Kyla are playing the topic of play is always changing. The living room at one moment is a ocean with sharks and everyone hurries onto the couches so they won't drown. The very next moment there are lions roaming the ground ready to pounce anything and everyone that is moving. Rescue hero's begin fishing finding all sorts of toys and objects and all of a sudden a dance has begun as they found music under water and the room is spinning as they turn round and round. Kyla is sitting watching it all or right in the middle depending on how overwhelming it all is. Chairs become buses and we are off on trips to visit places. Flashlights come out and we are camping in a forest looking for animals. Camping always involves owls no matter where we are. And all this is in just one small living room there is so much more once the playroom downstairs(bedroom for night) or the backyard is is explored.
If you think this is not entertaining enough the are many outings we also entertain. Parks are a regular outing to meet up with 15 or so other kids on Tuesdays, our last Thursday outing was to McDonalds which is always a favourite especially when friends met us there. Our other most recent outing involved the simple task of taking bottles to a recycling depo. but it all changes as you talk it up and make the most of it. We collected all the bottles and took a trip on the magical "wagon" a version of the "magical school bus show". Once we were there the boys lifted the boxes of cans onto the counter and the lady counted the cans. Counting it again the boys chimed in and everyone smiles to hear and see the fun. There were forklift to watch and smashed cans to see. Bags and bags or bottles all squished into big squares and all wrapped up. The process is quite exciting at a 2-3 year old level. The machines were probably the most memorable part of it all those.
Rainy days to some may seem like a bore but in this house baking is always a must. If you have to wash the floor why not make a mess first and then do the clean up when it really needs it. First hands need to be washed and that in itself can be fun and messy (depending on the level of supervision needed as some days they can be well behaved and others it's a game) water can fill the sink. So it's time and out comes the mixers and the boys are so excited to play baker "just like Daniel Cook" they say. Each taking a turn to pour the ingredients into the bowl and each taking a turn controlling the mixer. They may get covered in flour a little or a lot depending on the level of fun. Some may think we are crazy to add baking to the mix, but I think it enriches their lives as they learn things go together to make a snack and counting, taking turns are all part of it. They also learn the rules of baking; like taste testing comes only at the end and if fingers get licked they need to be rewashed and that ovens are hot and can only be used by adults, and so on.

So that is a small view into our morning life. Full of fun and entertainment. There is so much more but that's for another day.