A Day At The Farm

This past Saturday morning, we went to Sequatchie Cove Farm (about 40 minutes west) to pick blueberries. This was our second year in a row and it was definitely more fun this time with a (almost) 2 year old! We ALL had fun picking berries this year....

.....although one of us spent most of the time EATING his.

There were plenty of other "farm" things to see besides berries, like equipment.....

....we found the large & small versions of this one!

We also saw some farm animals.....

It was a wonderful way to spend a morning together as a family and we drove away with 1 1/2 gallons of blueberries for 12 bucks!

I'm pretty sure we'll be back again next year.

SC Friends

About nine months ago, two of our friends decided to leave TN and move back to SC where they are orginally from. We were able to see them in Charleston over Spring Break and had the chance to visit with them again on our way to Myrtle Beach. Turns out that their new house was only about ten minutes off of the interstate we used to make our trek to the coast.

This is Gus's friend, Grace. She is five months older than Gus and was actually his first date. Ok...so all he really did was lean on her the whole time but we still classify the meeting as such! Here is the original post documenting the event.

Grace is a MUCH better hugger than Gus, but I have to say he did much better than expected.

We were only able to stay for a few hours, but we sure enjoyed seeing our friends again. We've been fortunate to have had two opportunities to see them since they left. We're not sure when we'll cross paths again, but whenever it is, Horgers...we look forward to it. Thanks for allowing us to zip in and out...and thanks for dinner and for all of the wonderful vegetables from your FABULOUS garden! (I will not thank you, however, for all the work I have to do now that Amy wants me to build raised beds just like yours!)

From right: Dave, Grace, Kristi, G Man and Hot Momma

Lovin' the roaches!

We went to Myrtle Beach with the Deterding clan a few weeks back. Amy's parents rented a house a few blocks from the beach so that we (8 + 3 kids) could be together for a week. At some point during our seven and a half hour drive to SC we got a call from her mother saying that there was a problem. Within a few minutes of being in the house, she discovered that the house was infested with ROACHES!!! A quick call to the property management office yielded offer 1 of 2. "We can send over an exterminator." Perfect! Wet down the place with poison before the grand kids arrive! Nope...not going to happen. Offer number 2? How about an upgrade to this place right ON THE BEACH? Deal!

We had the left half. God was good to provide such a beautiful, beachfront unit.

In addition to an amazing place to stay, we enjoyed our week with our amazing family!

From right: Steve (Amy's brother), Grace, Heather, Baby Leah, Jim (Amy's youngest brother), Laura, mother and father.

We took it easy all week. It was so nice being right on the beach. We could wander out with (or without!) the kids and turn right back around if needed. We sat, swum, dug pits and built sand castles all week (or to be more exact, Scott and Steve and Jim built the sandcastles). We ate a LOT of food, took a lot of walks and rides to "try" to burn off all the additional calories, played games and just hung out. More pics from the week here, at the family photographer's blog!

This was the masterpiece of the week. A replica of the Capitol Building built by Jim and Steve.

I was surprised at how commercialized Myrtle Beach is. We didn't get out in it too much other than for a Mongolian dinner buffet (our first...very fun) and to see a show similar to Cirque Du Soleil.

Amy has been itching to get to a show like this for a while. It was pretty amazing.

The weather was very cooperative...as was the company! We had a very relaxing time. Thanks Deterdings!