Where to Begin?

We were gone on vacation to Alaska for almost two weeks. I took a lot of pictures in those two weeks. I managed to get the best of them uploaded on Facebook and then have been avoiding our home computer. I've been working on a programming project at work and that means a lot of time at a PC. I figured it was about time I sit down and do some catch-up on the blog. When I was trying to figure out which Alaska adventure to begin with, though, I realized I still had pictures from before vacation that hadn't been put on the blog. So here are some things we did in late July..... My strawberry plants are still producing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since the variety we planted is supposed to produce all summer. This means we're still eating strawberry waffles. We love strawberry waffles in this house!

It just so happened that our local berry farm opened their 'Spartan' blueberries for 'U-pick' on a Friday I had planned to take off with Allison. So we went blueberry picking. I was not prepared for the combat berry picking we observed. Nothing like middle-aged women in their Toyota Priuses making sure they get the best berries! Good thing we were just there for fun and to get some to eat. I had already bought and frozen many blueberries to get us through the winter! You can see my berry bucket above. These berries are seriously amazing. They are huge. And sweet. Like grapes only tastier. Not good for baking but they are a seriously yummy snack food!

Allison started out as a good picker. Then she realized what she was picking and that was the end of putting berries in her bucket, she ate them all. I had to take a picture of her bucket before we left. I did not stage this - she had 3 berries in her bucket. Just like Little Sal in Blueberries for Sal. Pretty cute!

The same day we went blueberry picking we had planned to go to Eugene to visit my friend, Melissa. But I decided we shouldn't do that. I decided this as I was laying on my back in my driveway after my bike, rack, car & garage got the best of me. It is a long story that I'm too proud to share here. I did tell the story to my friend, Melissa, however, and she zipped up to visit me instead. And she brought her cutie patootie, Jonathon along. He played in the pool. And I think Allison thought he was a pet. She liked to walk around the pool and play with him!

And we ended July with a trip to one of our favorite restaurants, Big River. We even took Allison with us. She was very lady-like for dinner and afterwards we let her play in the fountain park. I had forgotten a swimsuit so she played in her skirt. And she was in the water more than she had ever been. I guess putting a swimsuit on makes her want to stay dry. It was a beautiful evening and we are so thankful for pleasant summer evenings to play together.

.....and that is the end of our July. Up next on this blog will be all the things we did in Alaska (there are quite a few!). Hopefully I'll be up to speed before we get to August!