It’s my favorite time of year again!  PYO blueberries.  This morning we went with a friend to a new patch we’ve never been to before.  I say that every summer because there are so many around here! I think we could go to a new place each time if we wanted to, but I plan to get back to our favorite place again this year as well.

As usual we had big plans for the berries. Jam, of course, and maybe some more of those red, white and blue scones, and muffins, and, well, eating! I also want to try a blueberry lemon bread recipe I found in a magazine.

We went early and the picking was divine! Big, plum, delicious berries. The kids even found a raspberry patch nearby. I stuck to the blueberries though. We picked and ate and ate and picked. I threw an extra few dollars in the till to cover what was in our bellies.

The kids decided to bring little sand buckets for picking, but when we got there we found they had the good old fashioned milk-jugs-on-a-string available. I used that, but the kids stuck to their beach pails.

Eve trying to cut through the row of trees. They were tightly packed!

Lex says the best picking is low to the ground. He spent more time telling me about good picking spots then actually picking! :)

I wanted a cute picture of the two of them together with our big load of blueberries. Instead I got this (cute, of course)...

... and this. Oh well.

The problem now is that it’s so ridiculously hot this week that I can’t justify doing any baking or canning! We ate a ton of berries this afternoon and that may be the eventual fate of all of them. I was thinking about making tomorrow a hot kitchen day (it’s only supposed to be 93° tomorrow, a great day to turn on the oven!) since I need to make bread too, but then when I asked Alan what his plans were for tomorrow he said, “Stay cool!” Hmm…

So for now they sit on the counter and we munch away. Maybe we’ll just eat them all plain (0 WW points for that!) and I’ll have a good excuse to go blueberry picking again soon :)

We spent the afternoon in the oddest way. The kids are tired. We all are. So Lex had quiet time in the living room playing with Legos and Eve had her quiet time upstairs listening to an audio book on my phone. Half hour after quiet time was supposed to end I talked her in to coming down for snack. She wanted to stay upstairs even longer (she LOVES audio books!) I agreed that she could listen to the audio book while we had snack. So we did. She finished her snack and got out some play-doh. Lex finished his and got out a coloring book. The audio book ended and they both asked for another. I got a ton of food prep done (CSA pickup was yesterday) and the kitchen cleaned and dinner made. The audio book conveniently ended right at 5:30 and I put dinner on the table. Then upstairs for bath and bed. It was such a low-key afternoon.

Chillin' at the table.

Eve brought all of her stuffed animal friends to the table as well, and made each of them a play-doh cookie. :)

Busy baker (play-doh baker, that is!)

Lex likes workbooks. After he's done the (easy peasy) tasks they say to do, he often will decorate the entire page. Like a make-your-own coloring book.

I was hoping to do a few things tomorrow (library, farmers market) but I think I’m going to hold off on those things and have two days at home. Let the kids be still for awhile. Some much needed downtime before another busy week ahead.