The Raspberry Patch

I have always enjoyed "pick-your-own" type farms but they seem to be fading, at least in this area. About two years ago I discovered a place about an hour away called The Raspberry Patch and had been aching to go but for whatever reason we never got around to it. The other night while we were laying in bed talking about what to do for the weekend I brought up raspberry picking and we decided to make it happen. I was afraid I might go into labor and we wouldn't be able to go but luckily baby is still hanging around so we woke up early and headed out to pick raspberries.

The patch is on private property next to someone's house and when we pulled up all we saw was a table with a coffee can dictating the price per pound and a scale and rows and rows of raspberry canes. There was one person out picking so we asked them how it works and basically you pick what you want, weigh it, and pay in the can--totally on the honor system.
We ended up picking about 4.5 pounds of raspberries (much more than we had intended) but it's hard to walk past a ripe raspberry and not pick it! We called it good just as it was starting to get hot and more of a crowd had developed. We've been snacking on fresh flavorful raspberries the rest of the weekend, working raspberries seeds out from between our teeth, and dreaming up all the goodies we can make.

In baby news:

Our due date is Friday the 7th. Leone came five days early but it seems like this little miss is cozy as is and doesn't feel like she's in any rush to arrive. I'm trying to be patient but it's so hard when we're so close! At my last appointment I asked about the policy/procedure for if she doesn't arrive by her due date. Basically if  I make it to my next appointment we will schedule an induction date but how long we wait is up to me. They don't let anyone go two weeks past the due date because of complications for the mother and baby. I'm all for letting the baby arrive when they're ready....but I'm ready to meet this baby. My favorite midwife mentioned she is on-call Monday and Tuesday so I am hoping the baby decides to make an appearance around then, but honestly I like all the midwives and would be happy with any of them. 

For now I'm just trying to rest up but stay busy so I don't go stir crazy. If the baby doesn't arrive on Friday there is a hot air balloon festival this weekend we'd like to attend...

June/July 2015

June seemed to go by quickly and then July seemed to creep (isn't that usually the case when you're anticipating something?). The following is a photo update of the past few months. (Every picture was taken with my phone so please excuse the quality)

At the end of June Spencer and I went on a little date to celebrate my final year of teaching. We took a bread and cheese dinner up to the flight park and watched the hang gliders and para gliders land and take off. It was incredible! They were floating in swarms above our heads and we had fun learning a little about the mechanics of the process.

 Grilling kabobs for dinner on our porch.

 The weekend of the 4th of July we went to the reservoir and Spencer's sister Darcy came with us. 

(Darcy is battling stage 4 cancer and we recently learned the chemotherapy and radiation treatments have been slowly chipping away at her tumors. Progress is slow but we are thrilled!)

 We had a ward breakfast the morning of the 4th and then while I ran a few errands Spencer took Leone to Barnes & Noble where they were having a little paleontology story time/activity. Leone won the drawing prize at the end! I arrived just in time to hear her name called. She won a tote bag, the first book of the Magic Tree House series, and a 3D glow in the dark dinosaur puzzle!

 We got home and made ice cream that afternoon. I had originally planned to follow a toasted coconut gelato recipe but I forgot to start the base the night before so instead I tweaked a couple different recipes that resulted in our own version of toasted coconut ice cream. It was delicious! 

 

That night we drove up the street to watch the fireworks up close. Usually we would celebrate the 4th with Spencer's family and a barbecue then watch fireworks from his parent's yard where we can see shows from all around the valley. We celebrated with Spencer's family the night before so this time we took advantage of a local show nearby. While seeing lots of fireworks can be fun there is something about being close enough to feel the "boom" as they go off...Leone loved every minute!

There was a free children's festival at Thanksgiving Point a week or two later. Leone painted a flower pot and planted green beans, we received free tote bags, lots of free samples, chased bubbles, saw exotic birds and reptiles, played with kittens, and wandered around all the different booths. It was a great way to kill a Saturday afternoon.

 One night, a few hours after we had put Leone down for the night, I got up to go to the bathroom and opened the door to find Leone sleeping at our door. I yelped because I was completely taken off guard but she kept sleeping away.

 We discovered a new splash pad with our friends Ambree and Porter. Ambree and I were in the primary presidency together and Porter and Leone are in nursery. I love the new splash pad because it incorporates a waterfall and flowing stream as well as the usual fountains and spouts. The entire feature is made of granite and cement so it has a very natural feel. 

 We went up to Snowbird for one of their family movie nights. We saw Paddington which, luckily, turned out to be cuter and more entertaining that we had originally thought. While there Spencer spotted Brian May who is the guitarist from the group Queen and an astrophysicist.  We decided not to approach him-we were a bit deterred by his entourage-but we know it was him because his hair is unmistakable. It looks exactly like it did in the 80's but now it's white.

Leone Turns 3!

Leone turned three in July and we celebrated one day early since her actual birthday was on a Sunday. We had an "Under the Sea" themed party this year and since I was 37 weeks pregnant at the time I kept it pretty simple. However, I believe in birthdays so we were definitely going to have a party. I get excited just thinking about how we'll have two birthday parties to plan next year!
Months prior to her birthday I had asked Leone what kind of birthday she wanted and I would ask several times always giving her choices until we finally widdled it down to the one option she chose most often. I was adamant that the party be "Under the Sea" and not "The Little Mermaid" so the choices I gave were always general like "Under the Sea" or "Space". I had fun with the decorations and coming up with themed food that could feed a crowd. We kept the invite list to family and had her party at a splash pad we frequent in the summer months.  That is a perk to having summer babies: their parties can always be outside (which works out well since our one bedroom apartment can't accommodate anything close to a "party").

Leone really seemed to catch onto the idea of birthdays this year (except the fact that your birthday is only for one day) and that makes me excited for other holidays like Christmas and Halloween.

Leone snapped a shot of me working on decorations.

 Leone's favorite food are tacos so we enjoyed taquitos which were labeled as "Coral". We also had: "Ocean Water" - blue punch

"Sea Sponge" - Watermelon

"Sea Shells" - Chips

"Shark Bait" - Salsa

"Sea Foam" - Sour Cream

 Instead of birthday cake we had a doughnut cake. It was hands down the best idea ever! I have yet to actually make a cake for Leone's birthday. We had cupcakes at her first birthday but that's the closest we've come so far. Last year I made her favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I'm just not a fan of cake and while I realize it's her birthday she doesn't really know. Except since two of her cousins had birthdays in the months leading up to hers Leone started asking for a "blue birthday cake" the week of her party (blue is her favorite color at the moment). I began to feel bad and wondered if I should make a cake but decided we'd stick with our plan since next year she'll have even more say in her party as she develops more preference. 

 Of course the one year we plan a party involving water it was the coolest and windiest day of the week. So windy we couldn't keep the candles lit but we sang and enjoyed ourselves none the less.

 Leone was given many lovely gifts such as her first tea set, an ice cream ball, dress-up clothes, and art supplies.

On Leone's actual birthday she woke up to birthday bunting hanging in the living room, her favorite breakfast: oatmeal, and church which she loves. That night we had tacos for dinner with authentic mexican rice.

Happy happy birthday Leone dear!

Wheeler Farm

 

Leone is recently interested in all things animal so we set out to explore Wheeler Farm.