Raising a Berry Fiend

As I mentioned in my last post, last weekend we got word, via Mandy, that my favorite strawberry farm was having an early season U-pick session for a few short hours. The weather had been warm enough to ripen some berries, but then it had been monsooning (essentially!) for a few days, and the farm was worried that the ripened berries would rot before they were ready to open up officially for the U-pick season. I, being an avowed berry fiend, jumped at the chance to pick the first fresh strawberries of the season. We managed to fit it into a busy Saturday morning (Friends school yard sale, Waffle Shop breakfast, music class, and then strawberry picking!) and boy was it worth it.

The berries were delicious and the field we got to pick on wasn't nearly as overgrown as their fields sometimes have been in the past. It was FINALLY sunny (after a good week of rain and gray) so it was wonderful to be outside. We brought Sarah and Brad with us and then met up with Mandy, Scott and Noah. Hayden had been berry picking last year - but it was a bit of fiasco, trying to wear her on my back. This year, we let her walk around and she started off strong. Sarah and I ended up sharing a bucket and Hayden went back and forth between us, grabbing the berries we had picked and putting them in the bucket. A great system, if you ask me, especially when both Sarah and I, with growing baby bellies, were content to find a fruitful spot and stay there seated for a while, trying to pick as many berries as we could within arms reach. But Hayden didn't want to be the berry deliverer for long, so she went off with Daddy to check things out in a different part of the field. Notice I haven't mentioned letting her EAT any yet; I thought that might set a bad precedent.

Hayden acting as berry deliverer with Sarah.

Posing with the first fruits of our picking efforts.

Sure enough, when she returned from her adventure with Daddy, I introduced her to actually tasting the berries, and she was hooked. She kept asking for more and more. She would occasionally still act as berry deliverer, but her services were getting sloppy. At one point, she wanted to put the berries I gave her (at this point, feeling much more hard earned from bending over a baby belly) in Mandy's container. Or she would look at me quizzically asking without words, 'do I have to put this berry in a container, or can I just eat it?'

Can I eat this one please?

Ahh, strawberry goodness...

Even with Hayden's "help" at eating the berries, we managed a pretty good haul and eventually we were able to tear ourselves away from the temptation of finding just one more berry and go pay for our loot. As noted in my last entry, Hayden and Noah held hands on the way out for a bit and then had a great time being wheeled around the new store at the farm in a car shopping cart.

I think we pulled in 8-9 lbs of berries, which seems like a pretty good accomplishment for the first round of picking this season. We just finished the last of them on cereal and yogurt this morning. I made a delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie (thanks again for the recipe Mandy!) that Jason just couldn't get enough of.

The pie (if you couldn't tell). So tasty!

I also made strawberry bread that was tasty (Hayden had a piece and a half for snack yesterday and would have eaten more). Plus we all ate plenty straight up, as fresh berries should be enjoyed.

don't those berries look yummy!

All in all, it was a good first picking. Hayden enjoyed the process of picking (I think!) and she definitely enjoyed eating the berries. She gets sort of picky with food at times these days (oatmeal is always her breakfast request, but we don't always indulge her). I would offer strawberries and she'd say no all whiney and rejecting. But if I put one in front of her, while fixing the rest of the meal, chances are she'd end up gobbling it right up and asking for more. I guess she really IS my daughter, even if she doesn't look all that much like me. :) We will probably head out to pick again tomorrow - we need to replenish our stash. It'll be interesting to see how it goes with just me and Hayden doing the picking. As long as we can get enough for jam, and maybe a smoothie, I'll be happy.

Family shot, posing with our haul.

Hayden and Noah II

As you may know, Hayden and Noah spent a lot of time together from about the time Hayden was 3 months to when she was 10 months because Mandy and I swapped care, and shared a babysitter, to finish our dissertations. Once we both went off to "real" jobs, the kids went off to "real" daycare and they didn't get to spend quite as much time together. Luckily Noah still lived next door so we'd get to see them regularly, especially once the weather warmed up. But then Mandy, Scott and Noah moved, so finding time to hanging out has had to be a bit more intentional. However, we still find time to do stuff together, so the kids still get to play. We actually just saw them tonight, when we had our veggie exchange since we are sharing a CSA membership. (If you're interested, this time we had pea shoots, asparagus, chard, lettuce, spinach, basil, rosemary, radishes and strawberries in our box.) And lately we celebrated Memorial Day together and picked strawberries together.

I think the kids are at kind of a funny age for friendships. They both LOVE to get together (I believe both of them have done happy-dances at the mention of a get-together) but when they are actually in the same place, there isn't necessarily all that much interaction. Noah is usually busy finding something to do and Hayden is busy getting mad that Noah picked up something that she didn't know she wanted until he picked it up. But they do seem to enjoy each other's company and I'm sure they'll start to actually interact more as they both get older.

Memorial Day was pretty fun because the two of them discovered the joy of being traced with chalk. I had traced Hayden's shadow earlier in the weekend, and when the chalk came out after dessert, she assumed the position I had told her was best for tracing. Noah quickly mimicked her stance so he wouldn't miss out on the fun.
Unfortunately, there wasn't much sun to create shadows, so eventually I convinced them both to lay down on the driveway so I could just trace their bodies. While both were a bit reluctant at first, once they saw how it worked, it was a big hit. We even managed to get them to lay down holding hands, and traced them that way. SO CUTE!!! Of course, our driveway did end up looking a little bit like a crime scene, but it started raining the next day so all evidence was quickly washed away.

Another recent interaction occurred when we all went strawberry picking last weekend. A BIG thanks to Mandy for the heads up on the early season U-Pick option. We got some DELICIOUS berries and the kids had a good time seeing each other. They shared strawberries with each other while we were picking, held hands on the way out of the fields and then had a blast being driven around in a car grocery cart in the new store at the farm. Jason wheeled them all around like crazy, and there was mad giggling going on.



Strawberries are actually a big hit with both of them. The last two delivery days for our farm share have involved strawberries and as we get the berries out to divide them, both kids ask if they can have some. I think Hayden even the GREEN part of a strawberry on the first day when I wasn't paying attention. Oh well.

Even if we no longer live next door and share child care, the kids will still get to see each other thanks to the farm share. And who knows what the summer will bring? They may start stealing chard out of the boxes and actually learn to interact!!!

Memorial Day

Even though it was only two weeks ago, it seems like Memorial Day was forever ago. I was thinking about it the other day and trying to remember what it was we did that weekend; nothing was coming to mind and then I remembered, we celebrated our 6th anniversary by heading to Altoona for shopping and Mexican while Brad and Sarah earned baby points. :) We also went to a movie and tried to eat a traditional State College dessert but were thwarted by the restaurant's lack of ice cream. Who runs out of ice cream?!!!!

Anyway, on the actual Monday of Memorial Day we did what we do best - have friends over to grill and hang out. In attendance were Sarah and Brad, Mandy, Scott and Noah, and Brittany and Megan. It was great! We had yummy food - grilled hot dogs, brats, chicken, pasta salad, snickers salad, potatoes ala chard, among other things. Noah and Hayden had a great time eating dinner at the kid table.
Hayden was especially fond of the grilled corn - she likes eating it off the cob better than having it sheared off. And Noah very meticulously ate at least two helpings of Sarah's Snickers salad (green apples, snickers, cool whip - delish!). I say meticulously because it is not easy to stab apples with a plastic fork and he did it very neatly.

After dinner, the kids explored the yard, including checking out our newly planted garden. We've got tomatoes (5 kinds, including at least 3 heirlooms!), beans (how do you stake beans?), lettuce, bell peppers and jalapeno peppers, plus herbs.

Once the adults finished dinner, we all moved to the front yard to hang out in the evening sunshine. Hayden and Noah were entertained by Brad's antics (look how hard she's laughing). I think it involved throwing a ball and having it bounce off body parts, but it could have been anything.
There was some mommy/child snuggling too. Mandy and Noah had the cuter picture so I'll post theirs. :)And then the big food finale - rhubarb dream bars served with vanilla ice cream. A great use for the first batch of rhubarb! I think they were a big hit. Even the kids got in on the action, sitting quietly to eat their dessert. Hayden actually avoided the rhubarb bar and just sucked down the ice cream. She then got up from the table and walked slowly around the circle of adults looking for anyone who had some ice cream left. No one really did - Mandy was the candidate with the greatest possibility since she had to get a refill after Noah accidently dumped his on the ground and she donated hers to him. But even Mandy had reached the bottom of her bowl; I think Hayden was VERY disappointed there were no seconds. She kept asking and even went over to the front door to see if someone would take her inside to get her more. She is REALLY into ice cream!



We had a really nice time hanging out with all our wonderful friends. Food was good, company was better, and the weather was lovely. Noah didn't even get confused about no longer living next door to us. (Although the kids did ask to go play "chase" around the cedar trees at one point). What a great Memorial Day!

Singing

I have a few posts I'm meaning to write, but until I find the time to do so (maybe tonight while Jason watches the hockey game), you'll have to just deal with a short little post with a video. Of course, this post will not quite be in chronological order, but oh well. You can deal.

Anyway, yesterday morning Hayden woke up in the best mood. Chatty, cheerful, smiles galore. Such a mood is not too unusual for Hayden, but this one was just an exceptionally fun mood - especially for a Monday! This was epitomized when she broke into song, completely unprompted during breakfast. I think maybe she was inspired by the sure-jell box, but I don't know why that would be. (I might sing once the actual jam is made, but not just for sure-jell.) And not only did she sing the entire alphabet song on her own, she even sang it again AND continued when I brought the camera out. Take note of the minor interruption where she points to the jam jars and says "What's that?" That question, along with "what doing?" and "where going?" and "why?" are repeated many, many, many times daily. Life with Hayden is pretty fun these days. :)

So please enjoy her ABC serenade and the bonus "baa, baa, black sheep"!!

Silly rabbit

This is not related to Hayden at all, but I really want to share this story. The other day, I was going to do some laundry that would dry outside, so I stepped out back to check the temperature and sunshine. As I opened the back door, I startled a rabbit who was foraging up near the house. The scared rabbit took off away from the house, towards where we have a gate in our dinky little fence (but keep in mind the gate was closed). I kind of wondered how the escape was going to work out since there was a fence there. As I stand outside, I hear the rabbit scratching and flailing - the escape must not have gone as he planned. Since he's hidden behind a tree from my viewpoint, I'm thinking it tried to go under the fence and is stuck, but when I walk over to investigate, I see that was not the case. The very silly rabbit decided to go THROUGH the fence! So there was bunny butt on one side and bunny head on the other.

Poor little rabbit couldn't get much traction to push through the little hole and it was ruffling it's fur up really bad. I wasn't quite sure what to do to help. I thought about putting my hand behind the legs to give something to push on, but I then wondered if it could reach back thru the fence and bite me. In the end, I just held the fence still, so the rabbit could actually push through while it flailed (our fence is not the most sturdy of fences). Eventually the rabbit worked itself free and scampered off to freedom. I'm guessing it won't be back any time soon. :)

Bonus: Since it seems silly to write a blog about the life of Hayden, and write a post without any reference to Hayden (she wasn't even home to see the bunny), I'll leave you with a series of pictures taken at dinner recently when she was being especially cute and funny.

Three Tidbits

Since we haven't been on any big trips lately (got one coming up the end of the month though) and we haven't even had that many visitors (well, except for the festivities surrounding Brittany's defense), I just haven't been inspired to post another blog entry. But that doesn't mean funny and interesting things haven't been happening in our lives; it just means I haven't really been taking all that many pictures to document things. (which means I'm less likely to blog). But it's time to write something new, so I'll pick three little tidbits from our life over the past month or so. So in no particular order... (not even chronological)...

1) finger painting
For those of you who don't know, Tuesdays and Thursdays are what I refer to as "mommy days." Those are days when Hayden doesn't go to daycare, and I get to be a stay-at-home mom. Unfortunately, we often spend much of those days running errands (grocery store, retail returns and the like), but I also try to mix in Hayden activities like stopping at a park to play. We recently went to the library for the first time. (I don't know why it took us so long, she loves books.) And I also try to think of fun activities at home, besides doing chores! We sometimes bake, or go for walks, but we also recently tried finger painting. I stripped Hayden down to avoid messy clothes and let her go crazy. I think she had a good time.


look mom, green hands!

2) April heatwave
The last weekend in April, we got a crazy heatwave that pushed through. From the middle of the week when it was in the 40s with a chance of a wintry mix, we hit the weekend, with highs in the mid 80s! It was quite the temperature change. We were happy for the warmth, even if it was a little bit strange since only early bulbs were out and there were hardly any leaves on the trees. We celebrated the warm days by doing lots of outdoor things: washing the car, yard work, and eating popsicles. It was great!

here's her first try at a popsicle... I think she's a natural!

washing the cars with daddy. or at least dipping things in the soapy bucket...
Hayden liked the sponge used for washing the cars so much, she started to "wash" the ground with it.

Hayden started rewashing the Jetta on her own initiative, after we had finished and were letting it dry. Apparently, Hayden didn't get the memo that once you finish a car, and move on to the next one, you do NOT go back to the first car and randomly scrub at it.

trying to ride the cooler like a horse...
Popsicle day 2. Still a fan, even though these popsicles are from last summer... I should get some "fresh" ones, she'll be blown away!

3) ice cream disappointment
Hayden has learned the joy of ice cream. In a span of a couple weeks, we've gone to Meyer Dairy for ice cream a couple times, enough that when we drove past it, Hayden pointed it out and said "ice cream" even though we weren't stopping. When our friend Brittany turned in her dissertation to her committee, we took her out for ice cream to celebrate. Hayden and I shared a delicious bowl of cookies-n-cream while Brittany got her own cone. I think Hayden may have eaten more than half of our serving; it was hard to keep up with her once she got going! Obviously, we finished first at which point Hayden looks at Brittany and her unfinished cone and sticks her spoon out across the table. I tell Hayden, no that's Brittany's ice cream and Hayden goes into serious ice cream pout; I just had to pull out the camera to document.
She kept it up the face until Brittany was done even while Brittany and I were laughing and trying to make her smile.

With a new love of popsicles and ice cream, plus a fun new sunhat passed on from cousin Jay, I think Hayden is ready for summer! Bring on the warm weather!

Round and Round the Mulberry Bush

Given the horrible weather outside today (40s and rainy), it's hard to believe that Saturday was the nicest day we've had since last summer. High in the mid 70s, sunny, and just delightful. We tried to make the most of it by spending a good portion of the day outside. As an added bonus, we ended up being extra social as well! Yay for friends! Basically, we invited Brittany, Sarah and Brad over to grill for dinner, and then asked Mandy, Scott and Noah to join us. It was a truly wonderful evening of friends, food and fun. There was some hanging outside and playing while the grilling was going on, including the moving of some furniture by the wee ones.


After getting the chairs in just the right spot, they even managed to pose for a picture, complete with smiles!!
Once the grilling was done, we moved the party over to Mandy and Scott's lovely patio that Scott worked so hard on last summer. Since Mandy and Scott are moving soon to a bigger and better house, it was nice that we all got to enjoy the patio in nice weather. We had quite the feast and everyone dug in. Just to make your mouth water, we had... bison burgers, salmon, bratwursts (cheddar, stadium AND fresh brats with the fresh brats being deemed the 'good' brats), grilled asparagus and prosciutto, green salad, sweet potato fries, and fruit salad. YUM!!!

Check out the scene of food enjoyment....

Here are the Hanfords enjoying one of their last meals on the patio overlooking Lowes. :)


Everyone was in a good mood, feeling relaxed and happy. Even the kids were having a good time. Noah carefully picked out the pineapple and kiwi from the salad, leaving strawberries and grapes, while Hayden literally did the opposite. (Okay, so technically, Hayden did eat all the kinds of fruits, but the strawberries and grapes were the first to go. And then later on, she came back and ate a few of Noah's strawberries.) Noah even managed a few bites of bison burger, while Hayden tried some bratwurst. The adults enjoyed ALL the food and laughed a lot too. The kids could sense our good moods, and often laughed when the adults did even though I don't think they got the joke.

Can you tell Hayden is having a good time?!!

Of course, the adults wanted to linger at the table much longer than the kids, so we tried the experiment of just letting Hayden and Noah down and seeing if they would stay close, but otherwise entertain themselves. At the beginning, this worked fine. I think Hayden played with the buckles on her booster seat saying "seat buck, seat buck" over and over. Noah scooped up some loose gravel that was around and they both found small pieces of bricks to draw with in the sand. (perhaps not the safest items to play with, but it kept them occupied).

And then it happened. I don't really remember how. Hayden has been into running lately, and when Hayden and Noah meet up outside, often as everyone arrives home from work/school, they frequently take off around back together. But in this case, they stayed close and started to play chase around the set of cedar trees that separate our two yards. Somehow Sarah and Brad ended up at two posts on the loop - Sarah to tickle and delay Noah from catching Hayden too quickly (he has a nine month age advantage) and Brad to monitor the 3 stairs that the kids negotiated each time they went around the loop. And around the loop and around the loop and around the loop, etc. I wish we had counted because they probably ran around the trees AT LEAST 20 times, probably much more. I finally pulled out the camera to try and document. It was a game of chase, a test of endurance, and just plain toddler silliness (Noah ran into the wall one time because he didn't corner fast enough) all rolled into one. And the adults just watched and laughed and enjoyed the fun.

This first video shows you the "course" they were running. I apologize for the angle; I was enjoying being able to sit and watch too much to get up off my lazy bum and get a better view. But you can see Sarah's post with the tickling, and Brad by the stairs (sort of), and how they ran all the way around the trees. (just repeat ad nauseum to imagine how long this went on!) Note that Noah does catch up to Hayden (you can hear the parent voices in the background - just touch!) but neither one really care. Hayden just keeps on trucking and Noah runs to Sarah on purpose for more tickling.



This second video gives you a better view of the portion of the 'track' along the patio - plus, you can see how much fun the kids are having with Hayden's smile and Noah's giggling. They really kept this up for SO long. They did slow down a bit at the end, sort of huffing and puffing, but I think we had to step in to end it since it was time to wind down for bed time. I wonder how long they would have gone on if we hadn't stepped in?!!!



We had a truly wonderful evening. I don't think it could have been better - well, unless an ice cream truck had driven by giving out free ice cream for dessert. Oh, and maybe some awesome fireworks went off too. :) We are so lucky to have such great friends and neighbors. Hopefully we'll have more evenings like that over the summer, even if the Hanfords have to actually DRIVE to our house, instead of just walk out the door.

P.S. This little experience taught Hayden the word "fun." When we walked by the cedar trees the next day, I talked to her about how she and Noah had fun playing chase the night before. She agreed and reiterated in her own way what I said. And since then she has used the word fun several times, often when mentioning Noah, when talking to me. What a great way to learn the word FUN!