A Berry Fun Day!

(yeah, I know it's cheesy.....couldn't help myself)

Claire and I joined our buddy Tanner (and his mom Lisa) at the Chesterfield Berry Farm today for some strawberry picking! I remember going as a kid to pick berries and my favorite thing was roasting hot dogs on sticks over a fire. (They still do that by the way!)

Here we are on the hayride over to the berry fields...


As soon as we got there, Claire knew exactly what to do...

Lisa and I only picked up the small baskets because we really thought it would only keep the kids interest for a few minutes. To our surprise, they stayed right by us and let us pick berries as long as we wanted.

one for each hand...

Covered head to toe in strawberry juice!

After the hayride back, they had all kinds of activities for the kids including farm animals and a bounce house...

They also have a huge corn kernel play area - what a fun idea! Claire could barely walk through it. Mostly, I was trying to make sure she didn't eat them since she loves to eat her freeze-dried corn!


I got in with her and managed to get corn kernels all in my pants! (You should have seen the look on this guy's face when I was going into the bathroom and asked Lisa to watch Claire so I could "get this corn out of here!") Even at home, corn was falling out of Claire's shoes, shirt, and diaper!


Yummy! Time to go to the store for some pound cake and cool whip!

One Person's Junk is Our Treasure!

It's yard sale season and on Saturday, I went out searching with my mom, the Queen of Yard Sales! We were on a mission for some outdoor toys for Claire and any other treasures we might find. We hit the jackpot with the perfect slide for our backyard and Claire LOVES it!

We also found a fun playhouse which we tested out this morning while it rained. (She asked all morning to slide and I tried to explain that it was too wet!)

I think she likes it - I found her sitting inside reading books a couple times during the day.

And of course, we couldn't pass up some "new-to-us" books, especially when they are only 25 cents!

Annual Azalea Photo Shoot

Last year Rob and Claire had a photo shoot in our backyard and gave me one of the pictures framed for Mother's Day. I love the picture so much and decided we should make it an annual photo spot out by the azaleas. It turned out great and it's amazing to see how much she's grown. (The only thing that hasn't grown much is her hair!)

2009

2008

Reading...

My girl loves her books! I love when she sits in her chair and reads to herself. Here's a short video of her reading about animals. She gets a little more shy when the video camera is out, but you can hear her point out a couple of the animals and the sounds they make. (My favorite is the loud "Quack Quack!")

Mother's Day at The Mason Motel

Happy Mother's Day!

Rob and I headed to the river this weekend while Claire stayed with Grammy and Papa at the Mason Motel, her "home away from home." She always has so much fun, and Mommy and Daddy are always grateful for a little break! Being Mother's Day though, I had to get back to see my baby! (And my Mom too of course!)

Here's Claire and Papa Jim hanging out watching for cars and trucks.


We had a nice dinner together and Claire was happy to get to eat with us! (We normally have our family dinners later after she's in bed, but I think she's started to realize she's missing out on the fun.) Unfortunately Andy and Tara were out of town and Rob wasn't feeling good so they weren't able to make it.


Claire made a beautiful card for me!

And a present was waiting for me at home! A book called "First Marathons" which I am very excited to read for some inspiration! Who knew Claire was such a thoughtful gift-giver?

I had a wonderful Mothers Day - thank you to all who helped Claire with her shopping and card making! She made me feel very loved today - and even Charlie treated me pretty nice too!

A Lollipop Goes a Long Way

After a week of endless rain, we were thrilled to see the sun shining on Saturday morning for the Race for the Cure! This was Claire's 3rd race and we were very excited to be there. (Yep, you read it right...3rd race...first one was in the womb!)




Scott (Another Claire in the family!) walked with us this year. Here they are hanging out before the start while Claire eats her breakfast.


If it's true what they say about the tortoise winning the race, then we were all winners that day! It was a very slow moving group and even came to a complete stop at one point where the road narrowed. It felt like a big herd of cows, but everyone was in a good mood and having fun....everyone except Claire. It was alot warmer out than I was expecting and I had overdressed her. I think she was hot and maybe feeling overwhelmed. Whatever it was, she was pretty upset for at least the first mile or two. Finally after crossing the Lee bridge, I was able to get over to the side and strip her down to her onesie. And the best part of all was the lollipop she was given which thankfully kept her happy through the end of the race and all the way back to the car!

Here she is back at the parking deck - sweaty, sticky, tired......but smiling!! :-)

Storytime with Clifford!

I brought Claire to the Barnes and Noble story time this morning and there was a special guest....

I had no idea what her reaction would be to Clifford. I figured she would either cry and be terrified, completely ignore him, or *maybe* enjoy it?! She likes reading Clifford books and watching him on TV so I thought we'd give it a shot. And.....she loved it! As soon as Clifford walked in she ran to him and wanted to hug him. Here she is trying to snuggle up to him....


After all the excitement, I guess she needed little rest!