Fresh picked blackberries

We took the kids to a fruit farm in Auburn to pick some blackberries for ourselves.

Tate liked the berries, but was more interested in making friends and playing with little girl who was also at the berry farm with her family.



Carson was the master berry picker! He did a great job picking out only the ripe black berries...not even one red or unripe berry made it into his baskets!

After picking 15 pounds of berries, we went back to our house where Mimi helped us make 10 jars of blackberry jam, and a delicious pie!!

Carson's birthday camping weekend

For Carson's 3rd birthday, we took a family camping trip to Gold Lake !

Great brothers!

Carson got this scooter for his birthday from mom and dad. He tried it out at the campground while Tate cruised on his big wheels.

Tate was determined to swim in the water at the boat ramp. He had fun splashing around, but didn't want to get in much deeper then this because the water was really cold.

Carson got a chance to touch one of the many crawdads that live in the lake!

This was Holly's first camping trip! She did great!! It was pretty chilly out at night by the lake, even in July. She got to be all bundled up in her fleece footed pajamas to stay nice and warm.

Our tent trailer has been so great for us! This campground didn't have picnic tables at each site, so we were able to bring Holly inside to eat at our trailer's table.

Carson loves anything "Toy Story" right now! For his camping birthday, he got "Toy Story" pajamas, and a "Toy Story" flashlight to go with his "Toy Story" sleeping bag. About 2 weeks before his birthday, he saw this cake at Safeway. He talked about it continually after that. I usually make the kids cupcakes for their birthday, but I knew that this year the cupcakes were out and the "Toy Story" cake was in!

I brought the cake up to the campground with us, and did the party at the campsite. Our neighbor and friend (standing next to Carson) turned 3 also just 3 days before Carson. He was still thinking it was his special day, and blew out Carson's #3 candle before Carson got the chance. Carson was a little disappointed and a lot surprised by that, so we sang "happy birthday" a second time and then Carson got the chance to blow out his candle.

Yes...that's right, he got the "Toy Story" 2 movie. He was so thrilled that he loved it, and even gave the box a kiss!

He also had fun opening other presents and cards too! Tate was right there too, so he wouldn't miss a thing!

Holly liked sitting in the storage pouch in between two fold up canvas camp chairs.

This was our campsite! In addition to our family, Mimi and Pa joined us, (for the day) on Carson's actual birthday. Eric's dad, PaPa, stayed one night, and Eric's friend Matt, our neighbors, and one other family each stayed one night also.

What a sweet boy!

We hiked to Frazier Falls and Holly really seemed to enjoy her walk outdoors. Eric likes to carry Holly around in the "Baby Bjorn", and she loves it too!

The is the end destination of the hike.....Frazier Falls overlook.

Even thought the hike wasn't very far or very strenuous, Tate talked Pa into a shoulder ride back to the car.

Holly is a great smiler for photos, though here she wanted to play with the grasses rather then look at me and the camera.

Our neighbor Russell and his family joined us on the camping trip. The boys had fun splashing in the water together.

What camp out wouldn't be complete without roasting marshmallows?! Carson had some help roasting his, but was not wanting to share his treat!

All together, our campsite had 6 little boys!!! They had a great time running around and being silly together. At the end of the day, they sat down (finally) to focus on their marshmallows and smores!