Water Bug

Parker had SO MUCH fun playing at Grammy and Grampy's pool today...he hasn't been swimming since at least last year, and he has never been very comfortable in the water (his first swimming lessons were a real bust). But I think today was the beginning of him finally having fun in the water, and hopefully things will just improve from here! He was timid to get in with me at first, but once he was in he just wanted to "pedal and splash" all day long! I had to hold onto him the whole time, but he was loving being in the water. I absolutely loved swimming in my grandparents' pool when I was a kid, so I know how much fun he will have once he opens up to learning to swim. Here's to the beginning of a great summer!

Strawberry Deliciousness

Since we had so many ripe strawberries to work with once we got home from the fields, I knew that I would have to find a way to use them all up quickly. I tried out a strawberry pie recipe that I found online, and it was fantastic! Luckily, I already had all of the ingredients at home, and it was so easy to make (especially with help from my little sous chef). The melted chocolate chips lining the pie crust were a ridiculously yummy touch. So good that we'll have to make this a yearly tradition after visiting the strawberry fields!

Strawberry Fields Forever

We went to the U-Pick Strawberry Fields in Carlsbad with Grammy, and had so much fun! You pay to pick a bucket full of berries, and then are turned loose in the fields to choose your own berries--we went for the reddest, ripest, plumpest, biggest berries we could find. There were so many amazing berries in the fields that we could have filled up the bucket within the first two feet of our row. None of us could resist sampling a few berries along the way--especially Mr. Parker, who seemed to have yet another strawberry in his mouth (and all over his face, hands, and sweatshirt) every time I turned around! They were truly the best strawberries I have ever tasted--shows what a difference it makes to eat truly ripe, fresh fruit. We totally overloaded our bucket--we just couldn't stop ourselves from picking because there were so many great berries to choose from--and didn't realize that our shoes were absolutely caked in mud and strawberry mush until after we climbed back in our car! But it was totally worth it--so much fun!