Family Visit

Sorry for the disappearance-- it's been extra crazy around here. My sister and her family came up for a visit!! We had so much fun, the visit wasn't long enough and we were sad to see them go. I am going through the pictures and am wishing I took more-- it feels like we did so much together, but there's no proof in the camera. I really need to bring my camera along with me more, keep it in my pocket and take more pictures of the kids and the activities we do. The kids are growing so fast and the only evidence I will have of their baby faces will be in the pictures I didn't take!

On the first sunny day, we took everyone to our favorite PYO farm and picked strawberries!With all the rain we had, it was supposed to be muddy in the fields, so the kids all wore boots, but when we got there, it wasn't too bad, just a spot down in the lower area that had a mini-lake between the rows and of course the kids gravitated to that area. With 6 children and 4 adults picking strawberries, we picked about 45 pounds total! My sister's husband was skeptical about buying so much, but I assured him that it would get used up.

The next couple of nights, my sister and I made strawberry jam together. It was so nice to have a partner to make jam with and we made a lot that first night. We had a mango sitting on the counter that was ripe and ready to go and she suggested making one batch of strawberry-mango jam! We did and it was SO good! So good in fact, that the next day, I made sure to get some more mango and we made another batch with 2 mangoes in it. Yummy yummy yummy! We made 29 pints of jam together and she took half home with her for her family to enjoy.

We also went to Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. It had been a while since we were there.. I think the last time Andrew and I were there, we had just 2 kids at the time, and my sister and her husband had no children when they were there last. We learned that with 6 small children and only one public bathroom located on the far side of town and lots of walking uphill and downhill on cobblestone streets and sidewalks wasn't easy. But still, we had fun and took some nice family pictures. It isn't often I get to be included in the pictures, too!

It rained a lot when they were here, and they were frustrated about that. It's been unusually chilly and rainy this month of May, but what can ya do? We tried to make the best of it. I wanted to take them to that big flea market in Winchester, Va, but when it started to rain as we headed out the door, we changed plans and went to the big indoor flea market in Hancock, Md. It was a good decision, we all found lots to buy and we had fun.

I'm so glad they came up to visit and stay with us!! We love you all and miss you!!

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