New, yet old, resolutions...

I know it isn't January, but there is always room to make new resolutions. Mine came at the beginning of June. I have begun to realize how quickly my 30th birthday is approaching and I would like to be in better shape. I want to start moving more. Simple enough, right. I am trying to walk as much as possible. Park days. Friends' houses. Cory and I even took the girls biking this morning. We were graciously offered a tag-a-long bike from a church member so we tried it out today. Calla's forty-some pounds were felt during those treks uphill. Otherwise, it was a lot of fun. And we got moving...on a Saturday...in the heat. Now I have to keep it up.

Simple Pleasures...

Ahh, the Easy Bake Oven! An ingenious way to make little girls squeal with excitement and moms sigh in annoyance. A tiny little packet of dough. Lots of flour to prevent sticking, Six or seven nickel sized cookies. Thoroughly pleased children and a large mess to clean up for the supervisor. We generally avoid bringing out this toy, but Calla had Chrissy over for the afternoon and it was begged for. They loved every minute. I, on the otherhand, spent most of the time away from the table. I get a little anxious watching the messes being made. The cookies came out without a hitch. Unless you count the hole in the plastic tablecover that said supervisor made while dropping a hot "pan" of cookies. No cookies were lost in this incident...

Strawberry pickin'...

Riding the tractor to the fields.

Calla picking one of our rows.

Finding the best berries.

Our bounty.

Every year, I look forward to fresh picked strawberries. It's something I have learned to love since our move to Dairyland. Cory's parents took Calla and I several years ago. I think I have gone every year since. I try to get enough to make freezer jam to last the year and then plenty of extra to make frozen strawberry mush for ice cream. Last year I came up way too short so I decided to double our batches this year.
Cory watched Amelia on his sick day so I could go this morning. Calla and I spent several hours picking berries. Some of Calla's non-stop chatter included: "This is a good one, right Mom?" (I heard this phrase more times than I could begin to count.) "This is a yucky one. It has a line right down the middle." "This is a good...oh wait it has too much green. I'll just throw it in their row." (Oops.) "I don't want to eat any that aren't washed. I'll wait till you wash the ones in your bucket." I do have to admit that I thoroughly enjoyed her company. It was much more entertaining than last year. Remember the old grampa man who refused to talk to me? We gathered my three buckets and Calla's almost full bucket and went back to the tractor. This admittedly was her favorite part of the morning. Now onto the jam...

Breakfast "with the cows"...

Us from Calla's point of view.

Kicking the potato??

Amelia sampling her own freshly "churned" butter.

Getting brave enough to touch something.

Milking the pretend cow.

Amelia getting right in on the action.

Peeking at the "stinky cows."

Our county has an annual "Breakfast on the Farm." They choose a different dairy farm to host each year and you pay to have breakfast and tour the farm. There are some activities for the kiddos and Culver's custard for dessert. Amelia started describing our fun day as "Breakfast with the Cows." Despite still reeling from the heat of last year's breakfast, we decided to brave the elements and go again this year. The weather was beautiful. Breakfast was yummy, too.

The 4H put on the kids' area this year. Visit all four stops and get a prize. Stop 1 - Kick the potato around the maze. Check. Weird, but check. Stop 2 - Make butter by shaking a vile filled with heavy whipping cream for five minutes. Bonus: Sample your own butter with crackers. Check (for Amelia, but Calla got bored when her's took to long. Ah! the age of instant gratification.) Stop 3 - Throw potatoes at ring targets. What's with the potatoes?? Check. Stop 4 - Find a penny in the sand. Neither one of the girls wanted to get their hands dirty. Today was an entire day of personality weirds. Check it off (after a little not-so-sneaky help from the supervisor gal.) Maybe its the crafter in me or my "creative genius" bursting at the seams, but why did none of the games have anything to do with milk? Ok. Yeah the butter, but that's only 1 out of 4.

We took a trip through the animal tent and the girls didn't want to touch anything. They love animals. Remember me blogging about the Fair last year? Wouldn't pet the bunny. Stared at the baby chicks. Amelia even refused to sit on the pony. They did finally warm up to the chicks when I volunteered to hold one for them to pet.

We took a quick trip to the cow barn and looked at some "stinky cows", as we call them. Then a look at some tractors. Amelia refused to pose for pictures on these as well.

Let's get some custard and call it a day. Cory ate three tubs worth so as to not let it go to waste. We were back in the van by noon. It was mentioned as we drove away...maybe let's do "brunch"on the farm next year.

Happy Father's Day a few hours early...

I am truly thankful, on this day, for the dad Cory has become. I thought this picture would be fitting for the "ode" I plan to dedicate to the father of my girls. Cory wants to spend time with his kids almost more than anything else. He loves racing and has decided to pass that love onto his children. As I type, he and Calla are watching the last of the races at the track in town. He doesn't let too many races pass without bundling Calla up for the night and heading off. He is anxious for the day that Amelia decides she wants to go, too. My girls love to be with their dad, mostly because they know how much he loves to be with them.

Soccer...

Last year we signed Calla up for gymnastics and swimming. This year we tried soccer. She does fairly well. She finally got the hang of going after the ball by the last game. We actually have some really good video but it is on the recorder, not the camera. The last week of soccer was a scorcher. Not much shade on soccer fields. This was the reason several of her teammates were not present for our unofficial team picture. There were five girls on the team and eight boys. Calla is obviously in the back with the bright blonde hair. Her favorite part of soccer, when asked, is the part where they all line up at the end and say, "good job, good job..."

Chicago

A family visit...

My mom, my youngest sister and her daughter and fiance came for a long weekend. The girls loved being with their cousin. Madeline was a happy girl all weekend. We all met up on Friday afternoon in Chicago. Amma wanted to take Calla to the American Girl Place for supper. Amma was also able to be here for Calla's last soccer game and for her Peewee Pirate Awards night. (all of which I will post pictures of.) It was such a wonderful visit.

Another "big girl" milestone...

Calla learned how to ride her bike without training wheels. Well, I say she learned, but I really think she was "just ready." At her cousin's house, she noticed her cousin could ride with little to no effort - without training wheels. Next thing I see is Calla zooming past the garage doors on Abby's big girl bike. She hasn't stopped since. She wanted to show Daddy her new skills as soon as we got home from church. First, he had to remove those "baby" wheels.