Just Peachy!

So even though my pregnancy sickness my first trimester was much more intense than with Lucy, I still managed to get a few things done. Since I felt crappy whether I was lying in bed or actually doing work, I did manage to clean up my house every once in a while.

One big project I accomplished with the help of Brandon was freezing some peaches. Emily had a neighbor who had boxes of local Utah peaches so we each bought one. And as much as I love Utah peaches, you can only eat so much at once (and I think I might have thrown them up a couple of times). So we went to work freezing them so we could use them throughout the winter. I really, really want to jar peaches sometime but that takes a little bit more time, work, and resources so we went the easy route (jars, syrup, steaming or sterilizing or whatever you do). But zippered freezer bags, I had. Next year though. I will buy two or three times the amount of peaches, jar them, and eat peaches straight from the jar and in my Cream of Wheat and oatmeal year round. Yum!

Brandon was in charge of boiling the peaches enough to slip the skin off while I cut and arranged them on the cookie sheet to freeze.

I think we ended up with three cookie sheets full which filled up two bulging gallon sized bags. They have been great in smoothies but I went right to work on one of my favorites with some of the fresh peaches....

Peach Custard Pie! Obviously, I haven't filled it with custard yet and completely forgot to take a picture of the finished product. But needless to say, that pie made with those peaches is just one of the reasons that the end of summer is so wonderful in Utah.

Lucy's First Day of Pre-school

Lucy started her first day of preschool on Tuesday, September 4th. I hadn't done a whole lot of research into local preschools and ended up signing her up last minute based on the recommendation of my neighbor across the street whose son attended Lucy's preschool last year. It was close, reasonably priced, and one of Lucy's friends who lives a few doors down from us also goes so we can carpool together. It's only 2 days a week for about 2 1/2 hours but I'll take what I can get! There aren't as many preschool programs for 3 year old children to choose from because most parents do only one year of preschool when their children are 4. But I feel like she was ready and wanted more social interaction and I certainly had no problem getting a break. I also feel like it will be good preparation for preschool next year which will be 4 days a week (hallelujah!!).

Here is what Lucy decided to wear her first day of school. I just love this pose!

 And this face kills me. We did manage to get shoes on her which has always been a challenge. But I think that preschool has actually been really good for getting her to wear shoes more often because she understands that she can't go unless she is wearing shoes and her teacher probably tells her that she has to keep them on. I'm so grateful for other adults disciplining my child because I swear, Lucy has selective hearing with me.

I thought that this pose was hilarious but wish I didn't get so many shadows in it. This girl is such a ham. When I was checking out facebook, I noticed that most other parents were posting about getting a bit teary when they dropped their kids off at their first day of preschool. Brandon and I laughed because we were practically doing the happy dance after we dropped her off because we were so excited to have a break!

It still amazes me how fast she is growing up and changing but I look forward to it. She is in such a fun, sassy stage right now and full of surprises and charm. I cherish these moments but look forward to the future just as much!

Raspberry Picking

I have to admit - I got blog envy sometimes. Well, maybe not envying blogs but the content of blogs.  Some people just look like they are always doing stuff. Or maybe they are just really good at documenting the stuff they do. My sisters are some of those people. They're really consistent about updating their blogs and also really good at planning stuff to do. One is pretty lucky to live in Washington DC where there is lots of stuff to do. But Utah has lots of stuff to do too.

One of the things I have been wanting to do for forever is to go berry picking. And Utah just happens to have great raspberry picking (blackberries - not so much). So Emily and I planned our excursion with the kids (Emily documented on her blog HERE already - I'm so jealous of her camera and the pictures it takes. ). We went to McBride Briar Patch down in Mapleton, UT after reading about it on another local blog how the owners were super nice and we were not disappointed. What a charming place!!

I can't remember exactly when we did this - some time in September? But I do remember that it was still super hot but we just happened to go on perfect day when it was overcast and a lovely temperature.

These girls didn't do a whole lot of raspberry picking. But they did enjoy the fruits of their moms' labor. We were provided with buckets (and the girls got little ones) as well as rope to tie the buckets around our waists for easier picking, boxes to put the berries in when we were done, and cups for the girls to start eating right away.

The raspberries weren't organic or anything but at only $3/lb, it was such a bargain! We each picked just over 3 lbs so only spent about $10 for all that (and I'm sure we and the girls ate our fair share of berries as we were picking). Emily picked up some local honey as well.

The owner of the raspberry patch had the cutest dog who was so gentle and the girls just loved him.

I was glad to have remembered to wear pants so the prickly bushes didn't bother my legs. I was especially grateful because I spent a lot of time just kneeling on the ground and my pants got all stained! A long sleeve shirt would have been a good idea because I had lots of little scratches on my arms.

I wish I could say that I did something fun with my raspberries but I just ended up eating them everyday plain. I even threw some away (but not much) after several days because they were getting kinda slimy and gross. Next time, I'll make some raspberry jam or fancy desserts with raspberries.

There was free flower picking on the way out which the girls loved as well - I think the flowers were zinnias. And getting home was an adventure as we were stuck in stand-still traffic for one hour. Fortunately, we had plenty of raspberries to snack on in the car. But it wasn't long before the girls had to go to the bathroom so we did a little nature potty on the side of the freeway. Always an adventure being a mom!

Dayton Family California Vacation

Because my dad's visit to Utah overlapped with Brandon's family's vacation in California by a few days (and we only get to see my Dad about once a year), Lucy and I flew out to California on Tuesday, July 31st while everyone else in Brandon's family arrived in California on Saturday, July 28th. Brandon drove down with his dad and two brothers so I was actually pretty happy to have an excuse to take the much shorter flight instead of driving.

The family ended up renting the Golden Fantasy Mansion in Carlsbad which just by the name alone, sounded pretty...interesting. I wish I took more pictures of the place because it was definitely quirky. I guess it was owned by some Hollywood props guy so there were all these random things around the house used as decorations.

I hadn't done any traveling to southern California prior to this trip but I have to say, you can't really beat the weather. It's pretty amazing. However, I don't care for the traffic. Fortunately, we were just a few miles from the beach and we spent most of our time there.

 Lucy loved the beach. And we loved how many people there were to play with and entertain her.

The best part of the trip for Lucy was probably playing with her cousins. All the Dayton cousins live outside of Utah so she doesn't get to see them much. Lucy gets along especially well with her cousin, Taylor who lives in New York and is closest in age to her. But the older girls took good care of her too.

I forget that kids can just play in sand FOREVER!

But cuddling and relaxing also made it on to the agenda.

The adults (excluding myself because I felt so crappy) did a lot of body surfing. I tried to make myself useful by taking pictures.

This guy lost his wedding ring in the ocean. I was actually pretty impressed that he held on to it for almost 8 years!

What a hunk I married! My pasty white hunk!!

And this girl had so much sand in her swimsuit, I was sure we must have been doing something awful to the drains when we got home.

Nap times were definitely more intense with all the energy being expended.

The family talent show took place as usual. Brandon and I always talk about putting something together and then we never do and end up winging it.

Fortunately (or unfortunately?) there was a karaoke machine for us procrastinators.

Cameron and Erin serenaded us with "I Wish They All Could Be California Girls".

I think Erin's girls were wondering why their mom was wearing that hideous dress (one of the gems found in the garage). She at least put in some effort in the costume department which was more than the rest of us could say.

Damian helped the kids sing along to "Alphabet of Nations" by They Might Be Giants.

Damian was one of the few who actually prepared a little number. He sang and played "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" by Magnetic Fields.

And all the kids starting dancing. It was really sweet.

This is one of Lucy's favorite songs to dance along with her daddy.

Ethan shared a short story that he wrote.

Giant sandcastles were built...

...good food was consumed (I wish I took some pictures of our yummy meals), and many Olympics were watched. Everyone in the family except me, Brandon, and Lucy went to Legoland. Lucy was in dire need of a nap and we heard it was kinda disappointing (and really expensive!).

Driving home from California was pretty rough for me, even though we stopped overnight in St. George. But despite the travel time, I think I would take California over Lake Powell any day.