Berry Extravaganza 2020

Last Friday, I used my "float day" from work so the kids and I could head out of town (a bit) and pick berries.

When I realized that while we had picked berries before, we'd never gone to an actual berry farm, I felt a bit like a PNW mom failure (kidding!). We'd robbed our kids of a fundamental PNW childhood experience! Until last Friday, we'd picked wild blackberries and strawberries (from our garden), but those were small potatoes berries compared to going to a real berry farm. As an added bonus, cousin Anna was able to join us. WOO HOO!!

Shockingly, we were in the car and on the road right on time. Who knew THAT could happen?? The drive up to Arlington was a breeze. We hoped to stay dry during our picking time, but the off-and-on rain we experienced on the way north made us question if that would really happen. (We brought boots and rain gear, just in case.) When we pulled into the Biringer Farm parking lot, it was dry and partially sunny. Win!

We left our boots in the car, donned our masks, and headed to the main building to learn about socially distanced berry picking and where to find the various berries we wanted. There were very few people at the farm when we were there, so social distancing wasn't an issue at all. Very often, we were the only people in an entire berry field. It was lovely!

We started out among the raspberries, and then migrated to the blueberries. Eventually, we found ourselves in the tayberry field. The berries practically jumped into our picking boxes (except for the tayberries ... they put up a bit of a fight. They were the only ones with thorns!)

Who were those masked berry pickers??

Conor's PERFECT raspberry

Forget raindrops on roses... we had raindrops on raspberries

Peek-a-boo

Annika picking raspberries

She's a raspberry fan!

Conor and me showing off a wee bit of our haul

Quite the berry-picking foursome!

Heading back from the raspberry field

Annika made a new friend in the blueberry fields

Quite the cutest berry pickers ever!

 When we were picked out, we paid for the berries (you're welcome, Biringer Farm!) and decided we were in dire need of lunch. I searched for "restaurants" on my phone's map app and the first hit was Nutty's Junkyard Grill. We thought burgers sounded good and it was close... easy decision. Oh man!! Were those burgers ever amazing! The fries were plentiful and beyond good, and the onion rings were enormous!!! We were incredibly stuffed and brought leftovers home for the next day.

Speaking of the next day... the next day (for me) was mainly focused on making jam out of the lovely berries we picked the day before. It took many hours, but homemade jam can't be beat. This is enough to last us at least 2 years, so time well spent!

So... much ... jam!

Cousin Frank's Wedding

Last month, my cousin Frank got remarried and we were invited to be part of the celebration. So, the morning of the wedding, we piled into the van and made the trek down to Portland.

Knowing that we'd be traveling on Memorial Day weekend, we were keen to avoid as much holiday traffic as possible, we we timed our time on I-5 very strategically. For the most part, we had an easy drive. We did encounter some slow downs in/around downtown Seattle (no surprise there) and near the bases south of Tacoma (again, no surprise). We got to our hotel in time to get settled and take a few breaths before changing into our wedding clothes and heading out to the church. It was rather hot that and we were quite grateful for the AC in the car... and later, the pool at the hotel.

The ceremony was sweet. My cousin basically cried the entire time. The priest was quite a character, and even brought Joy dish soap in to the mix. Troy did the readings, many of my cousins were in the wedding party (y'all clean up real good!), Troy/Staci helped performed the lasso portion of the wedding, and I was the Eucharistic minister. WHEW! I'm pretty sure Eric and Conor were most excited when I suggested they avoid wearing their blazers because of the heat. (Yeah, increasing my chances for winning wife/mom of the year right there!) :)

The reception was held at the Elks Club that very kindly had AC. A few of us (me included) were plagued by sore feet, but at least no one had to melt in the heat. (My van's display registered 102F when we left the church!!!) We were asked to offer marriage advice to the newlyweds, which we all did ... including our kids (see below). The band was quite good and many a twirl, boogie, and twist was performed over the course of the evening. At one point, I tried to get my cousin Ron's little girl (4) to dance with Conor, to which she replied, "EW! I don't dance with BOYS!" (Oh how she'll change her mind on that in another 10 years of so!)

I had a great time catching up with my extended family members, many of whom I haven't seen in years. The kids had fun meeting new (to them) cousins and dancing until they were exhausted. Annika and Conor were most tickled, however, when my Aunt Marie gave them $2 bills. Who carries those around with them?!?!?! Our kids didn't even realize $2 bills existed until she handed them to the kids.

After the reception, we make the short trek back to the hotel. The kids and I hopped into the pool while Eric lounged by the side of the pool. Eventually, we hit our pruny fingers and toes limit and headed back to our room, only to be invited by Troy/Staci to come over to their room for pizza (Bonus!!). We quickly changed into dry clothes and had a little post-reception reception. We recounted funny stories and shared memories from the day and our previous excursion to visit this side of the family during our childhood years. We fondly told stories about visiting our grandma "back in the day" and (perhaps) made her a bit of a known entity for our kids, who never had the chance to know her.

We practically fell into bed that night, to say the least! Lots of fun, but so tired. :)

Marriage blessing

The Olson Four

Conor loved the wedding bells

Conor's marriage advise (pt 1)

Conor's marriage advice (pt 2)

Aunt Marie and me

Annika escorting Aunt Marie back to her table

My cousin Terri, Annika, and me

Uncle Jim (also my godfather) and me

Terri and me

Doesn't Conor look THRILLED to be surrounded by us gals??

My little cousin Tonya is so darned lovable!

Conor showing off his dance moves

The men of the family

Staci is the BEST photobomber EVER

Troy, Annika, and me

My cousin Terri, her husband John, and me

Family Fieldtrip to the Zoo

On Friday, one of my brothers called and asked if we'd like to join his family at the zoo on Saturday. Apparently, our nephew had been itching to visit the zoo and the weather was going to be cooperative. Sounded like a win to us! We enthusiastically accepted the invitation and then kept it a secret from the kids (muahahahaha!)

On Saturday, we informed the kids that we'd go on an adventure later in the day, but that was a surprise and we wouldn't tell them any of the details. (Yes, this is how we torture our kids... it's the simple pleasures sometimes.) About half way to the zoo, Conor proclaimed "Hey! We're close to the zoo! Is our adventure going to the zoo?" To which Annika quickly replied, "NO!! We're not going to the zoo!" (Sucker!) Needless to say, Conor was right. Annika had actually hoped we'd go to a park or playground, but was appeased when Eric informed her that there would be an extra surprise in the zoo (aka, our nephew Ian). As soon as she saw my brother and his family walk toward us, she squealed with glee, ran past my brother, our niece, and our sister-in-law, and practically tackled Ian right there in front of the zoo offices. It was mighty cute, I must say!!

We did a fairly full tour of the zoo, even attempting to see the bears that Conor had so desperately wanted to see when we were there a few days ago. Unfortunately, the bears were either (a) hibernating, (b) feeling shy, or (c) out clubbing because there was not a bear to be found. We saw a lot of other animals, but no bears. Sorry, Conor. We got what was probably one of the best views of the zebras that we've ever had while at the zoo. They were right in front of the African village lookout and were quite content to munch on grass in front of us.... that is until a gazelle got uppity and caused a bit of a scuffle with one of the zebras.

I think we were all a little surprised how cold we were by the time we wrapped up our zoo tour.... and by wrap up, I mean "get kicked out by the zoo workers who wanted to go home." We all had popsicle hands, chilly toes, and hungry bellies. (OK, that last one had nothing to do with the weather, but we were hungry!)

The guys (aka Eric, Troy, and Ian) picked up burgers from Red Mill while Staci, Kat, Annika, Conor, and I went straight home to start thawing our feet. We gorged ourselves on the best burgers in Seattle and then took in a few fast-forwarded football games as we enjoyed our food comas together. The day was definitely a win in our book!

We just can't go to the zoo without checking out these cute penguins!

Conor and Eric watching the penguins

Ian, Conor, and Annika perched on the kimodo dragon statue

His future's so bright, he's gotta wear shades

Per Conor, these zebras are Spot 1 and Spot 2's parents

Staci, Troy, and Kat looking at the zebras

Kat and Troy taking a little stroll

Hippo dinnertime

Ian and Conor... cute cousins

Our wild bunch

A gorgeous sunset to bid farewell to a very fun day

Cabo Vacation Recap (pt 3)

One of the things that most excited our kids about going on vacation—aside from the fact they'd be in a pool every day of it—was the fact that their big cousin Ian would be on the trip with them. I'm pretty sure our kids think Ian walks on water; he is marvelous with them... truly, the King of Patience. One of the activities that he devised was to make forts out of the various patio furniture cushions for Annika and Conor. They LOVED this activity... and Ian built countless structures for them... mostly because we were there for an entire week and Conor thought he was Godzilla and the cushion buildings were Tokyo in need of a good crushing.

Annika and Conor enjoying Ian's architecture skills

The creations were everything from forts to jails to bridges to boats

Ian rocks!! (just ask our kids if you need  more details)

One of the nights we were gone, Troy and Staci offered to watch our kids so we could have a date night. Sweet!!! Because we did the all-inclusive package at the resort, our dining options were somewhat limited, but Troy called the bar in the main building (aka the bar that had Eric and Troy's new best friend, aka Delfino the bartender) and confirmed that we could eat there while everyone else ate at the restaurant one level below. He was told that it wouldn't be a problem at all.... insert we think this is where the language barrier comes into play. Eric and I sat down at the bar, ordered drinks, and then asked for the menu. The waiter, quite confused, informed us that they don't serve food there, only drinks. Hmmm... so, we decided to risk going downstairs to the same restaurant as the rest of our crew; fortunately, they put us at a table hidden behind a column that blocked the kids from seeing us and, thusly, deciding to come on over for a visit. At one point, we sent drinks to Troy and Staci as a thank you for watching our kids... plus, we were on the all-inclusive, so we weren't even out anything. (Yes, we are THAT cheesy!) Even though the evening didn't quite turn out as expected, it was still incredibly fun and the added humor of hiding from our kids made it even more memorable.

Eric and his date night beer

Meredith and her date night wine

Little did we know at the time, but a hurricane (Hurricane Cosme, to be exact) was brewing in the Pacific, which caused insanely HUGE waves for us to ooh and ahh about. These suckers were a good 12 feet tall and raged as they crashed onto the beach. Because the ocean was so stirred up, the resort posted workers to patrol along the beach to keep people a safe distance from the water. I got as close as I could to get a few photos of the gorgeous waves, though.

Annika posing
(this is what I got when I said, "look over your shoulder at me.")

Did I mention the cushion creations??

 The kids were enamored with the fountain on our building. Every time we were near it, they insisted on taking a look in the collection pool and playing in its water. Once we even found two dead cockroaches in the water ... that was a bonus, just ask the kids!

This picture makes me giggle. A lot. I think Staci was either being held up by a really funny bandit or is doing her best mime impersonation. Your thoughts??

Stick 'em up, Staci!!

The last time we were in Cabo, Annika was 6 months old. Naturally, she doesn't remember anything about the trip, but we sure do. One of our favorite photos from that trip was her in front of this very swim-up bar splashing in the pool water. It tickled us to have a picture of our baby at a bar. Because of that bit of history, having the kids (again, really funny that our 3 and 5-year-olds are sitting at a bar!) at the bar just seemed to be an imperative for this trip. Before much longer, Annika is probably going to feel like Norm from "Cheers"!

Conor and Annika at the bar
(fear not, they only had a bottle of water!)

 

Annika at "her" bar

Conor ponying up for a refreshing cold one ... bottle of water, that is!