A Berry Good Day
School has been out for one week. Due to the Memorial Day weekend, we're officially 4 days into our summer vacation routine. It's going...well, OK...not great, not bad, just ok. The details for that are another post! Baseball limits going to the pool, especially this week since there was a game or makeup game every night. (No swimming on game days. I remember how tired I was at that age after swimming!) Chores and piano practice are to be done before "fun" things like swimming, computer, Wii, baseball...
Julia will be leaving very soon, so we're trying to cram a couple of things into the few days we have left. We thought it was important that we take her to Ivanna Cone in the haymarket, so on a very hot and muggy Friday afternoon, we headed to the library to borrow some additional down-time resources and left with a very full book bag. We were off to the Haymarket to indulge in some creamy rich frozen dessert. They always have some really fun and unusual flavors at Ivanna Cone.
It was tough to choose, but I think we had a nice selection between the nine of us...there was a lot of "a taste for a taste" going on, so the sampling was plenty.
We had to explore the rest of the creamery before we left and had fun standing in front of the most enormous mirror for 15 minutes! Who needs arcade games or fun parks when you have a mirror at the top of a staircase? Maybe the "fat man on the bench" outside the creamery? My kids have loved to sit with him for as long as I can remember...and they ALWAYS remember him!
As if the day wasn't already a fun summer day, we returned home to get ready for a home baseball game with which the 'Canes added another tally mark to the victory column. The night was still young, and quite still, so when we returned home again, no one made it inside the house. There was still a lot of playing left to do. I'm not sure what prompted an exploration quest to the fruit trees, but Joe, Amelia and I found ourselves there examining the few lone little apples hanging from the branches. Joe was given detailed instructions to NOT pick them before they are big and red. Last year, Ben picked all the tiny little peaches off the tree before they could mature.
From there we decided to check the strawberries which were all green just days before. To our pleasant surprise, the green plants were loaded with plump red fruit, and the picking (and eating) began. We filled a little bucket and quickly needed something bigger. By the time the others joined us and we were done, we had picked close to 20 cups of strawberries. Mmmm...I have a little bit of rhubarb from my mom in the fridge and a strawberry rhubarb bar recipe that has been waiting for me to try it.
The day was certainly a wonderful summer day. I look forward to many more.
