The Sky is the Limit Saturday - Blueberry Pickin'

Blueberry picking at Weber's Farm - what a fun way to spend a few hours on a Saturday afternoon. 
As I learned on Saturday, blueberries are the easiest fruit to pick, preserve and enjoy throughout the year. 

Now, I need to find some yummy recipes to make with all of these blueberries!

 My farmer girl - she told me on the drive to Weber's that she was looking for farm houses for sale for us to buy.  She is a girl after my own heart!

We were so lucky to get a wagon ride tour of Weber's Peachberry Farm.  We learned so much about fruit and vegetable farming in Maryland.  I can't wait to go back and pick peaches next. 

Tasty Treat Thursday - Smurfberry Muffins

So, yes, when I get an idea in my head I sometimes tend to go overboard with it.....Road Trip Tuesday has led me to think of themes for all days of the week.  My reason for this is two-fold....one I love a reason to have fun and I am a stickler for anything that keeps me on track with planning fun things to do.  If I blink, this summer will pass before my eyes so I need something to focused on accomplishing all of the things I want to do.  That is how Road Trip Tuesday has led us to today....Tasty Treat Thursday!

It is so fun to watch things I loved when I was younger make a resurgence and see my kids fall in love with them too.  I have seen this happen with The Chipmunks and now its happening with The Smurfs.  There is a new movie starring these blue cuties -- The Smurfs in 3D will come to theaters in July and Ariel and Carter (and me, too) can not wait to see it. 

A trip to the library a few days ago resulted in Carter getting out a book on Smurfs. 

In the book was a recipe for "Smurfberry Muffins".  Carter asked if we could make these and the idea for Tasty Treat Thursday was born. 

 Carter sporting his new haircut -- I love being able to see his eyes again

 Tasting the batter -- no double dipping

 adding "smurfberries"

  

 And while the muffins are baking we watched, what else but...The Smurfs

It really was a smurf-tastic day!

Wordless Wednesday

Why issuing an ultimatum to your kids is never a good idea....

I have found it incredibly frustrating lately that I can not get my children to both smile at the same time while looking in the same direction AND not making any goofy faces or bunny ears for a picture. 

Really I don't think I am asking for too much!!! 

So, today, after a serious of pictures that had

one not smiling - Ariel, one not looking - Carter

and one making "gangsta" signs - Carter, again!

 one with his mouth open - Pierce; and again the "gangsta" signs....

 and yet another not looking (and with a cheesy smile) - Ariel and yes "Gangsta Carter" again

and one final not looking - MOM MOM!!!!

I issued the final ultimatum.............

"We are not taking any more trips to Disney World until you can look at the camera, smile, and keep your hands down at your sides within 15 seconds of being asked!!!"

Guess what???

Yup....they quickly figured out how to do it!  Now they want to know when we are going to Disney!!!!

It's Road Trip Tuesday

Summer vacation officially started for us at the end of the school day on Friday!  Yippeeeeeeee!  Can you tell I am excited?  I live for summer vacation - unstructured time to spend with my kids doing fun things.

Yesterday I announced that Tuesdays during the summer would be "Road Trip Tuesdays" and asked the kids to pick "North or South".  They picked North and with a direction in mind I began to think of places to go.  Where did we end up?   Nottingham, Pennsylvania at the Herr's Snack Factory for a free tour.

What a great destination!  The visitor's center at the snack factory was clean and the staff super friendly.  I had called before we left to make reservations for the 11am tour.  The tour groups were small and our guide, Andrew, was great at presenting and explaining what we were seeing.  I give kudos to any company that allows the public to view their working plant operations.   

A few amazing facts we learned today is that nothing goes to waste at the plant...any corn chips that fall off the conveyor belt are swept up and taken to the Herr's Angus farm down the street and fed to the heard of 500 Angus cattle.  The same is true of potato peelings discarded during the chip making process.  Also, the heat from the fryers is recycled and used to heat the entire building during the winter months. 

The best part, though, had to be sampling potato chips RIGHT off the production line.  They were warm and fresh and absolutely delicious!  This was definitely the highlight of the tour for the kids....well, maybe the adults too :-)

The kids were very excited that Mom Mom was joining us on our road trip! 

The factory tour was such fun that it made us want to find out what other tours are available.  There was a great book for purchase in the store about all the factory tours available in the United States - Watch It Made In the USA - A visitor's guide to best factory tours and company museums.  I am placing my order for this tonight!

After leaving the Herr's Factory we went to lunch a cute little place right down the street - Nottingham Breakfast House. 

The next stop on our journey home was North East, Maryland, a small town in Cecil County.  The destination was a store on Main Street called The Silver Buckle where I was intent on spending some of my birthday money on a super cute pair of Switchflop Flip Flop Sandals.  And spend I did :-)   Ariel, who was super annoyed at her brother, perked right up at the chance to do a little shopping.  It's amazing the power of retail therapy! 

The boys were very patient while the girls browsed in the shops so the next stop was for ice cream!!!

I love this one -- Ariel is "feeding" the pig her ice cream

What a great day!  Have I mentioned I love summer vacation?  I wonder what adventures next Tuesday will bring?