Strawberry Picking

One of the great things about Jack's Daycare is that they plan fun things to do, sometimes they invite parents along, like this week. They had a trip planned to a farm for some strawberry picking. I went along since Kate had him all last week in South Carolina and so I wanted some quality time too.

It started out in the morning and everyone had t put on their orange vests. Imagine a bunch of toddlers wearing little orange vests, it was like a small cult of kids.

We boarded a bus and drove out about 45-50 minutes, into the deep woods just shy of the blue ridge mountains. We exited the bus and there was a small stable with a small horse and a big one. So we took the kids over to show them the horses. One turned out to be a small pony and the other was a male horse. The pony would approach the fence, but the horse stayed back.

Jack and the Horse.


Jack and Jason and the Pony.


After that, we got some little baskets that we could fill up with strawberries and we shown the field where we could pick to our hearts content.

The people who run the farm had a few dogs and one of them, a Cairn Terrier, loved all the attention from the kids. The kids loved that dog, too.


Jack liked running up and down the rows after picking a few and left me to finish filling the basket. He was more interested in running up and down the rows, racing Alexander or Mason.

After I filled up one basket, I went back and bought another for just us and filled that one up. I figured we could make some smoothies.

Jack.


Jack with the Stawberries.


Jack picking Strawberries.


Jack working the field.


Strawberry Fields.


The Smoothie.

Double Meaning

When you name a business, it should be clear to the customer or potential customer and shouldn't be mistaken or misinterpreted. So when I was at the gas station and this truck rolled up, I did a double-take. Since when are Eagles, pests?

Hook A Book

For the Summer Reading Program, we went with the theme "Hook A Book" and chose some artwork for the requisite materials. While we were putting the materials together, I sketched some doodles for fun and thought we might find a place to use them - we didn't find a place for them.

GolfBall Boy

This video was taken a few months ago, but I just found it and wanted to put it up because he was such a good ball boy. He likes golf and enjoys participating in games.
I

Unemployed For A Reason

I got a call tonight from a pleasant sounding woman from Pennsylvania. She was conducting a reference check on a guy named David. David put my name down as a reference since he supposedly performed some work on my vehicle and was seeking a position doing mechanic work somewhere in Pennsylvania.

Only problem is that I don't know any "David" and nobody has done any work on my car in a while. I asked for more information, maybe it would help jog my memory and help me remember this David person.

I asked how she got my number and she said David provided it, the name was right, the number, obviously was right as well. She said he lived at an address on my same street, but about 9 numbers off. Literally three houses up and across the street.

The only thing I could think of was that it is one of the hillbillies that love to run their souped-up cars around the neighborhood. Problem is that this David character is so clueless, that he provided this employment service with the name, address and number of the guy he thought he did some engine work for.

Next time I see him, I'll let him know that I couldn't give him a reference.

My Dog is Shedding

This year she decided to put on a real winter coat and now that Spring has sprung, she has decided to shed that coat. And boy is she shedding.

I brushed her tonight and the fur flew. That stuff next to her is the fur that I brushed off of her.

Happy Birthday Reet

We had a little party in honor of Reets birthday. Jim made chicken wings and pizza and we had cake, of course! Joe and Lisa showed up, GG was there and the nieces came by later. It was nearly a full house.

DOH! Sticker

I made an oval sticker with a DOH on it in honor of Homer Simpsons "Doh!"

Smoothies

I have been making home made smoothies and introduced the boy to them last week. He thinks mine are OK, but he really likes the ones that Cheesecake Factory makes because they are really sweet and fruity. That kid has a sweet tooth.


Mine got a simple thumbs up.


This is the one he had a the Cheesecake Factory - wouldn't even look up.

PirateBoy

Reet and Jim went on a cruise last week and bought Jack a hat from their trip. He loves it.

Pitfiring

Some of the regular crew from the hood.

We have been doing Pit-firing on weekends for a while. And we have a good following around the neighborhood, its not unusual for us to have 8 or 9 people show up for a few hours and drink beer, listen to music and talk about anything and everything.

I highly recommend it.

Clemynjontri Park

We met Lisa and the kids (Joe Jr. and Beckett) last Saturday at the park so the boys could play. They have so much to do at that park, so the kids get tired before we have seen everything. The weather was hot that day so the boys got pretty sweaty quickly by running all over the place.

Jack loves to run on the race course they have and is always challenging me to a race. He gets really upset if I beat him in a race, so I hold back a bit. He also likes the maze and loves to get lost, even when he isn't.

Joe and Beckett have their favorites, Joe liked the carousel, but Jack didn't want to get on and ride for some reason. He did enjoy watching us go a round and round, though.

We had a quick lunch and let the boys play for another 30 minutes before we could tell they were getting tired. He slept for three hours after we got home, so we know he was tuckered out.


Joe and Beckett on the Carousel.

Joe and Beck.

Jack Skipping.

Beckett in the funny mirror.

Beckett.

Exit Now Hummer

We went over to the new Harris Teeter off of Rt. 50 in Fairfax and picked up a few things we needed last week. We really just wanted to go to the new grocery store and see what they had going on - we had to get some lunch anyway and were passing by. On the way out, in the handicapped parking space was this Hummer, advertising plastered all over it - easy to identify and remember.

There were no handicapped tags on this car, so this looks like an A-Hole who decided to park in a handicapped spot (probably just for a minute). The problem for Exit Realty is that he is representing them and doing something that advertises such negative behavior for parking in a handicapped spot (actually a space and a half). Way to go.

So does this make you want to do business with these guys?

Andy and Olie

The neighbors have two kids now, so Olie has a little brother and he is getting big. Andy was born a few months ago and is a typical baby, so when we were over a few weeks ago for some burritos, I snapped a few pics of his kids.


Olie wearing his sunglasses.

Olie and Andy together

Andy Sitting Up.

Avery and Cole

Avery and Cole are the grand kids of Papu, AKA Tino, who is Kathleens (My mother in Law) significant other.


Tino's son and his wife live up in Maine and they came down to visit a few weeks ago for a vacation and some tourist time in DC. They went all over DC in the few days they were here, seeing every landmark available in the area.

We all had dinner and got a chance to have the kids mingle a little. They seemed to hit it off and played well together, Avery and Cole are nice kids and we enjoyed meeting them, we have heard so much about them through Tino, so it was nice to actually meet them.

Bloomin

A lot of stuff had been blooming in the last few weeks; Dogwoods, Rododendrins, the Magnolia tree and the grass has been growing too.

I found this out the hard way since I volunteered to mow a friends lawn who had moved in up the street a few weeks ago. She is 8 months pregnant, so its not really her thing to do lawn work these days. The picture shows how high the grass grew in a few weeks, almost half as high as Jack.


The blooms of the other plants have been really colorful, its also nice to see after such a dreary winter.


I actually have two kinds of dogwoods in the front, one has these pink blooms and the other has the traditional white blooms, both are looking really nice and healthy.

BrewBQ

A "BrewBQ" is a phrase my neighbor came up with for when he is brewing beer and turns it into a social gathering. It takes about 5-7 hours to brew beer and another two weeks to ferment it. The brewing process is fascinating and gives you a whole new appreciation for beer and all its flavors.


The Amber Ale that was brewed two weeks earlier.

So he started brewing about noon and we all started drinking around then as well. We played Cornhole, ate ribs and pizza and listened to music. A great way to spend a Saturday.

Catching Up

Well, flowers are in bloom, the garden is becoming a hot project and Spring has sprung around here. A few weeks ago we went to Cox Farms Garden Center off of 123 and picked up a few flowers and some small planters. I took out some evergreen bushes in the front yard and had planted the flowers in their place per Kate's orders. I also put some gerber daisies in the front planters so that there is something cheery as you approach the door.

Jack had a good time at the garden center, there is a wooden boat where kids play and he loved running around in there.


I have started all my garden plants from seeds and so far I have tomatoes, basil, carrots, sunflowers and string beans.

Afterwards, we went to Noodle and Co. and had lunch outdoors since it was such a nice day.