Blueberries

This week we had family night on Tuesday and we went and picked blueberries with our friend Logan.  It was so much fun.  An older couple lives just a little ways out of the city and has a beautiful house with a large blueberry and blackberry garden that they open to the public on Tuesdays and Saturdays.  They had hundreds of blueberry bushes and we got to pick as much as we wanted.  It was $2/lb, so I thought that was a great deal for fresh fruit.  Alden loved being outside and it was fun to sit and talk while picking.  Now I have a little less than seven pounds of blueberries that I'm trying to come up with ways to use.  Since we're leaving in less than a month I can't really store them, so they need to be used.  So far this week we've had several blueberry dishes.  But we love them and it's fun to come up with uses for fresh fruit.  We've had a blueberry cobbler, blueberry syrup, and blueberry muffins.  If anyone has any ideas or favorite recipes I'm open to suggestions!

Alden kept on wanting to taste the leaves

Alden and Dad

Look how many we picked so far

Such a good helper - he's holding the basket

Alden recognizes the camera and loves to have his picture taken

Happy Birthday to Me

This past Saturday was my birthday.  We had a fun and busy weekend.  Saturday morning we got ready rather quickly for a Saturday morning and jumped in the car and headed to Charleston for the day.  Patrick had gotten tickets for his birthday to go to a soccer game that night.  The Charleston Battery was playing Bolton. So since we were using his birthday gift on my birthday we decided to make a day of it.  We stopped by Mt. Pleasant to visit my Aunt Stephanie and Aunt Faith's families, but it's summer and their lives are busy so we just visited for a little bit before heading to see downtown Charleston.  I have never been and wanted to do some exploring.  Of course we picked the hottest, most humid day to go, but we still had fun.  We walked up and down the old streets admiring the beauty of the city.  We'd like to go back and take a guided tour but we were running out of time because we had to get to the soccer game.  Alden was a trooper and did great traveling and riding in his stroller in the heat.

This is how Alden traveled most of the time in the car - it was a miracle

We visited the Battery

Alden and Mom walking along the coast near the Battery

We visited Rainbow Row and looked at all the old houses.  Rainbow Row is a street that has all the homes in different colors.  Next time, I want to take one of those horse drawn tours through the town.

We also saw old Cobblestone streets and visited a street market.  We had a lot of fun looking at all the unique and hand made gifts and sampled some tasty treats.  The soccer game was also fun even though the Battery lost.  Alden was so exhausted from the day that he even slept through the first half.

My mom got me a breadmaker for my birthday.  I've been wanting one for a long time now, and I found one really cheap so she got it for me.  I'm working on perfecting my rolls, but we have so far enjoyed it.  Patrick got me a DVD that has three older Tom Hanks movies.  I love the older movies that Tom Hanks is in and can't wait to watch them.  Two of them are some of my favorites already, but one I haven't even seen yet.  It was a great weekend. 

Patrick snapped a few pictures of Alden and I waiting for the rolls to come out of the oven.

The finished product

One tooth!

Yesterday on our drive back home, Alden grabbed my hand and started sucking on my fingers.  I quickly pulled them out since this happens more times a day then I can count, and felt something on his gums.  He has been drooling a ton and everything goes to his mouth, but this isn't new and I haven't felt or seen teeth in months.  But yesterday I did some investigating and I'm pleased to report that Alden does have a tooth.  It's on the bottom and it appears to have barely broken through.  But it's there right under the gum with a little piece poking out.  He's growing up too fast.  This week, he turned six month's old.  Time sure does fly when you're having fun.

I also just posted all about our adventures over the past few weeks, so make sure to read below.

We're home

Well, it's been an exciting two weeks.  Alden and I are finally home from our travels and have had a great time, but we're happy to be back home and with Patrick.  I've taken a ton of pictures, so this post will be pictures with stories here and there to help me remember all our fun times.

On the way to my parents, Alden started getting fussy from the long car ride and he wanted to know what was going on.  He hates his car seat because he can't see what the rest of us are doing.  So we let him take a look as long as he remained in his seat.

Since Alden's white church shirts are now tinted pink this is the outfit he wore to the wedding reception and to church both Sundays.  I thought it was very cute on him.

This is pretty much the only picture we have of Pappy and Alden.

Look at this cute face

Huggies has come out with diapers that look like Jeans.  They make these at Patrick's work and he's been dying for Alden to have some.  So this is Alden sporting the Jean diapers.  He likes them a lot because I only make him wear a shirt.  I'll have to take a better picture the next time he wears them.

Gram and Granddaddy bought a swing for Alden to enjoy when we were at their house.  Here he is trying it out for the first time. 

This is how they spent many mornings.

Alden got a new swimsuit right before we went down to Alabama.  He had outgrown his old one.  This new one makes him look older because the design is one you would find on an adult swimsuit.

My mom's cousin Rhonda lives on the other side of the woods from my grandparents.  We would take our walk through the woods and go and visit all the animals.  Alden loved it and I have to admit that I enjoyed it as well.  They had two pigs and if you took a stick and started scratching their bellies, they would lay down like a dog and want you to keep rubbing them.

The baby goats were so fun.  Their little cries sounded like babies or children crying.  When we were walking in the woods, we heard them and my mom wondered why there were children this far out here.  Alden got to touch and pet the goats.

Alden loves Gram and Granddaddy.  He has started reaching for people while I'm holding him.  Every time one of them walked by he would reach out for them and want them to take him.  He was very spoiled and loved every minute of it :)

Getting ready for a morning swim.  Bear (the dog) followed us everywhere.  Alden loved watching Bear chase balls and run around the yard.  Bear would keep Alden entertained for hours.  Alden showed no fear and would let Bear get really close.  I have a feeling we may need to get this boy a dog someday.

Our favorite activity with Bear was swimming.  While we were in the pool Bear would drop tennis balls in the water and wait for us to get them and throw them to him.  After he had mangled a ball to the point where it would begin to sink he would drop it in and let it sink to the bottom and wait for us to dive in and get it for him.  If we took too long to get back to him he would come him the water and hover over the area of the ball as if to tell us that this is where it is.  Also, my cousin Michael and Sawyer were jumping off the diving board and splashing around.  Every time Michael would jump off Bear would go running to the stairs and get in the water and swim out to the deep in to "save" him.  It was hilarious how concerned he was that they were in trouble or drowning.  One day Sawyer had filled up a water balloon in the pool and Bear wanted it from him.  Sawyer was hiding it behind his back but Bear was chasing him down in the water.  One time Bear's back legs touched the bottom on the shallow end and he realized he could touch by standing straight up.  This is what it looked like.  I had goggles on and was watching this from under the water.  Bear probably stayed like this for three minutes because my mom had time to run in and get a camera and then come back out.

Enjoying some fresh watermelon poolside after an evening swim.

The following pictures were taken after church on Sunday.  The first is our four generation picture.  I have decided that I want a four generation picture with all of our grandparents and Alden.  We lived out in Utah for three months where three out of four grandparents live and this is the first one I've made.  I'm a little behind.  Oh well, we'll get them when we get back in September. 

The boys

Gram, Mom, Granddaddy, and Alden

Alden and Mom

Grammie and Alden - I love his expression in this one

Alden and Sawyer goofing around

Rhonda also had two baby raccoons, Cindy and Mindy, that we went to see.  These baby raccoons were abandoned and needed a home while they are young.  Rhonda keeps them inside and lets them out to explore each evening.  When they get older she will release them into the woods.  Right now they live in her bathroom and eat cat food and use the litter box.

We had a fabulous trip and can't wait to go back.  Thanks to Grammie and Pappy for letting us stay with you and then take a trip down to Gram and Granddaddy's.  We had so much fun!

Happy July!

Yesterday was the first day of July.  I'm very excited for this month because we have a lot of fun things planned.  Today we are going out of town for the Fourth of July weekend.  We are heading to Marietta to play with my family and friends.  Several friends are in town this weekend and we have a wedding reception to attend as well.  Patrick has work off on Monday so we are going to play and enjoy a nice long weekend.  When he heads back home to work, Alden and I are heading to Mobile with my mom and Sawyer to spend a relaxing week at Gram and Granddaddy's.  Then it's back to my parents for several days until Patrick can come and get us.  We are also heading to Charleston this month and celebrating mine and Patrick's birthdays.  Mine is on the 17th and Patrick's the 27th just in case anyone reads this and needs to remember :)  We were talking the other days saying how we are celebrating our birthdays and figured that maybe Alden needs to celebrate his 6 month birthday as well.  That way we can party all month long.  I'll try to blog as much as I can, so I can remember all the fun times!

Gram, Alden, and Granddaddy on the swing - May 2010

A Summer Cookout

A few nights ago we decided to use the grill at our apartment complex for a nice cookout.  Our friend Logan came over and brought some ribs and vegetables to grill, and I had marinated some chicken and made potato salad and baked beans.  It was really good and we decided that we would have to do it more often.  Everyone that was at the pool while we were grilling was extremely jealous of how good our food smelled.  A thunderstorm started up right after we finished so we didn't get to eat outside, but I'm sure we'll do it again.  Patrick was in heaven with the ribs, he thought it was such a fun treat.  I'll have to remember that for next time.

Here's our griller

Alden and Mom waiting patiently

Alden's new favorite position

Alden loves his stroller - we call it his rolling throne