Weekend full of fun!

This was a great weekend packed full of fun.  We had a blast at Owen's Nerf Wars birthday party on Saturday and that evening we went to the park to enjoy the nice weather.  (And run off some of the sugar from all the cake and ice cream)

My kids all love the swings and really love to swing when Joe pushes them.  

He will run and push them nearly upside down and run underneath them.  

That is NOT how I push, lol.  

Emmie had a few turns but prefered to swing with her feet pointed down, not her head!

Josie can't get enough of it.  Here Joe was teaching her the art of swinging so that you put yourself upside down by leaning back. 

I think she figured it out!

Josie loved it...and the fact that it scared me to death cracked her up even more!

After church on Sunday we continued Owen's birthday weekend.  We went to Cheesecake Factory for lunch and to get his iphone screen fixed for his birthday. (it was my old iphone that was cracked that I had given to him)

They enjoyed their meals pretty good... 

But this is what they were really waiting for! 

Owen got Oreo cheesecake and the girls got Reese cup. 

Emmie shared my chocolate cake and Joe's strawberry cheesecake.  This was her face when I told her she didn't get her own like the other kids and she had to share with me and Joe!

Josie enjoying the chocolate crust!

This is my life....

exactly as I had prayed for. 

I couldn't have had a more perfect family for me!

After we were stuffed we went to the mall and shopped a little.  We found one of those photo booths and Joe decided we should all get in it., although it is made for just 2 ppl!  I am sure we were quite a sight to see with 12 feet hanging out but we managed to get some fun pictures with everyone's heads in the pic!

These kind of days are my favorite.  Doing nothing special with the 5 people I love most!

Picking Blackberries!

My kids LOVE berries.  I mean they really love them!  Strawberries, blue berries, raspberries and blackberries.  I cannot keep them stocked in the house for more than a day or two.  

Josie's favorite are blackberries.  So since we went strawberry picking earlier in the summer she has been asking to pick blackberries.  I finally found a place near us that had a place to pick.  It was quite a drive there but we finally found it.  

It was a family that had a huge blackberry farm on their land and it was gorgeous out there.  

The kids all got their own buckets to collect in and they went to town.  

There were berries everywhere and the lady had explained to them to only pick/eat the dark ones, the red ones were still ripening.  

I wasn't sure how well Emmie Jayne would follow this rule but she did, she kept saying, "Not the red ones!" 

Owen wasn't nearly as picky about how ripe his berries were!  He was picking all different shades!

Emmie Jayne was the first to try them out while they were picking.  

And than the others joined in...

Maggie was my pickiest of them all.  She only picked the ripest, darkest, and prettiest blackberries.  

It was so hot out but they all seemed to enjoy themselves and didn't mind the heat.  

Emmie Jayne got bored of picking berries after awhile and decided it was more fun to run up and down the rows!  I am pretty sure she lost all her blackberries she had picked. 

They took a quick break to let me take a picture

and to sample the berriest!

The little girls got done before Maggie and Owen and Josie had the job of combining their berries together in one big basket.  

The the older two added theirs.  

You can't tell from the picture but Josie's hands were covered in berry juice.  I told her no denying she had eaten them!

I caught Maggie strolling down the rows when she thought nobody was watching.  

As the day went on Emmie got more and more sleepy...

not sure how we cheered her up for a quick smile...

but it didn't last long!!

This was our cue that it was time to leave!

So we headed up to the house to pay and cool down with some water.  

When we got up there the lady and her grandkids had made blackberry ice cream and let us sample some.  It was delicious!

Emmie had her ice cream and found a place to rest on the porch

And then I looked over and found Josie with her water, just relaxing on their porch swing!!

We came home with  a ton of blackberries that I am sure won't last more than a week!  The kids had so much fun doing this so I am thinking we will add this to our list of things to do in the summers!!