strawberry festival

Before we headed off to Utah, we had a busy, busy week ... that included a fun trip to the Strawberry Festival. I wanted to blog about it before we left, but ... like I said, we were pretty busy!

The Strawberry Festival is in Plant City, FL. It's about 40 minutes away from our house, and it's much like the Florida State Fair--only smaller and with more strawberries. We walked around and saw some crafts ... and a lot of food vendors. Colton rode the flying elephant ride with Billy. He was pretty cranky, because he was tired. But when it was over, he was really excited about the ride. He talked about riding in "Dumbo" for a while. We found a yummy strawberry shortcake vendor, and the three of us shared a delicious treat.Colton rides with Daddy on the flying "Dumbo" elephant ride. He ended up liking it so much!
The strawberry shortcake was SO good! It was worth the trip to the festival.We bought a 1/2 flat of strawberries, because we knew we were planning on being out of town. We ate some of them with ice cream that night, but we had to freeze the rest of the strawberries. I'm excited to use them in some tasty recipes! The entire flat was only $8 dollars, and the 1/2 flat was $4. Pretty cheap around here this time of year!And they are delicious!

Earlier last week, Khlobear did some sitting! She likes to sit, because she can get at her feet really easily ... but just today, I found her laying on her back holding both feet, so she'll get to them any way she can!She's getting so big! Already learning how to sit.

We had a little play date last week with Landon and Duska. We had a picnic and played at the park a little bit. It was really fun! We'll have to do more picnic play dates. The kids really love to play at the park, too. It was a beautiful day.Having a little yummy picnic lunch with Landon.Landon and Colton had a fun time playing chase.Colton being a big boy and going on the slides by himself.Slide races!

We had a little park time in the evening last week with Daddy, too. Since it's been staying lighter longer in the evening, we headed to the park. Khloe got to take her first trip to the park in a big stroller without the infant carseat. She's such a big girl!

I can't believe it's almost the 6th month mark since Khloe was born. I have already begun the making baby food process. Last week, I made butternut squash and sweet potatoes. I am going to make a few more yellow and orange veggies this week. I have carrots, yellow squash, and acorn squash on the menu. I will, also, need to make some peas and green beans. Then I think I'm good for a bit.

A few pictures from last week ...
Colton's first try at Rice Crispies. He liked them ... especially because they made noise!Colton put on my shoes one evening and told me he was going to "workout". I asked him again, "what are you doing?" He said, "I'm going to do my exercises!" I guess I've been doing that a lot lately.One morning, I woke Khloe up before Colton, so both of us went to wake Colton up. I laid him down on the ground to change his diaper, because I had laid Khloe up on his changing table. He got up, because he wanted to say 'goodmorning' to Khloe. He wanted to hold her hand while he talked to her. I love that kid!Just hanging out with Daddy at bedtime.This is how Colton plays hide-and-seek. He lays down or stands at a wall and covers his eyes. I guess the old "I don't see you, so you don't see me" trick applies.Hanging out with Khloe at the park.Last Friday night, Khloe was feeling haystacks.A little brother-sister bathtime ... he kept splashing her with water, and she would laugh and laugh.Khloe was having a little "floor time", and this is how I found her. Poor girl!May be one of the last times she uses her swing. She's just getting to be too big.

first time to the gulf

On Sabbath, we took the kids to the beach. It was Khloe's first time to the Gulf of Mexico. (Her second trip to the beach.) We met Billy's sister, Brenda, and Ethan, along with his "sister" Heather and her friend, Mel ... and a lot of other people. Heather and Mel (and others) came down to Orlando to run the Disney Princess Half Marathon, so they took time on Sabbath afternoon to drive down to visit us. The beach was a good idea, because it was a beautiful day--aside from some strong wind. The nice thing about Clearwater is that they provide shade/wind barriers that you can rent, so we did that and it kept the kiddos well protected from the chilly wind.A couple of cute pictures of the kids with Heather and Mel.

It was Ethan's first trip to the beach, and aside from waking just enough to eat a little bit, poo, and cry some (to remind us he was there, too), he slept through his visit.Khloe wanted to say 'hi' to Ethan and check him out a little bit. He was making some little noises. I think she likes him.Ethan is just relaxing ... waiting for Mommy to finish her lunch, so he can have some lunch, too. He even gave us a little peek-a-boo!Ethan and I had a little photo-op. He was enjoying his little sleep while I documented the cuddle-time.He even took a minute to look at the camera.A little snuggling with Aunt Tasha.He got a little lot of Mommy-love, too.

Colton had a blast, as always. He was having a lot of fun playing football with Heather and eating "Mel Candies" with Mel. (a.k.a. M&M's) Billy made a "smart" move and took Colton to feed the seagulls ... and then there were a ton of them flying over us trying to grab some grub. So, we told Colton he could feed them sand, because seagulls like sand ... he wouldn't stop talking about wanting to feed the seagulls!

He liked playing football with Heather.And digging holes with Daddy, too.

Khloe had a great, relaxing time, too. She hung out on the blanket for a while. She let everyone hold her for a little bit, and then she took a short nap in my arms.
Little girl gets some love from her Mommy.She did a great job for her first (long extended trip) to the beach ... even with the chilly wind.

Both kids were pretty sleepy when we got home, so we laid them down for a nap. They had a great time, and we decided we'll have to buy one of those wind/sun shades. They come in pretty handy!

Sunday we went to Billy's cousin's daughter's (whew!) 6th birthday party. Colton loves Emily, so he had a great time running around with her and her cousins (from the other side of her family). He chased them, and they chased him all around. Colton was having so much fun that he didn't really eat much at the party.
It was a luau themed party ... Emily dressed Colton up this way. He stayed like this for about a minute ... Billy on the other hand ...Luckily Emily doesn't only have girl toys! Colton loved playing with her monster trucks.He jumped into the middle of the bean bags, and he got stuck.Glad cousin Emily was there to help him out!

When we got home, he crashed into a nap. He woke up in the absolute WORST mood. We didn't know what to do. He just cried and cried. He was furious about everything, and the more we tried to get him in a better mood ... the angrier he got. I asked him if he was hungry, and he said "NOOOOOOOOO!" (In a very whiny, annoying, angry voice. Followed by some fake tears.) Finally, I said to Billy, "Do you want a grilled cheese?" Colton immediately says, "I WANT A GRILLED CHEESE!" And he proceeds to follow me around the kitchen begging for a grilled cheese while I make it. He gobbled up an entire sandwich and two bowls of ABC soup ... along with some treats Billy gave him after dinner. He was so hungry. Immediately toward the end of dinner, Colton said, "I'm going to finish my soup, and then I'm going to give Mommy a kiss." We knew right away that he was feeling much better. For the rest of the evening, he was our sweet, little Colton again. I guess he doesn't deal well with hunger ... and apparently, he was so grumpy, he couldn't tell us what he needed!

For good measure, I'm going to throw in some pictures from a few weeks ago when Mom and Dad H were here visiting. There are just a few random pics that I wanted to post of Khloe and Mom holding Ethan when they were visiting us.This makes me nervous for many reasons.Grandma settling Ethan down during game time on Saturday night.A little floor time a few weeks ago ... I just thought she looked especially sweet.This is for all of my famly and friends who live in the "north country" and by that, I mean ... anywhere not humid subtropical like our state ... this woman was selling papers on Sunday morning on at a local intersetion. She is wearing a parka with a fur-lined hood ... it was 66 degrees out.