Our tomato forest

When we came home from our vacation in Michigan the tomatoes were all ready to pick. We drove home on Friday and were picking the tomatoes on Saturday. 

 While we were aways we had a bad wind storm that blew over some of our tomato plants. This makes it a little harder to pick them. And because these silly plants got so tall we had to become creative on how to get all the tomatoes picked. 

 Because it has been so hot this month actually getting into our "forest" wasn't too bad and cooler, the only bad part are the mosquitos. We literally had to crawl on our hands and knees to get in to the plants to pick them. The boys thought this was the coolest thing. They did pretty good and were able to get most of the red ones. Having picked these tomatoes a few times now it is quite an adventure and a nice little work out, really can work on your stretching ;) 

I will do a final total on all the tomatoes we canned but with this first pick we were able to get 20 quarts of stewed tomatoes. Hopefully with some rain and cooler temps we are able to get the most out of our little crop. 

Forth of July

Our Forth of July celebration was pretty low key but all the kids seemed to have a good time. We decided to have some yummy food on the grill and a few fireworks at home. 

 It seems that the poppers were very popular among all the kids. I am not sure how many boxes we had but with six kids they went pretty fast. After they had all been popped on the sidewalk, the sidewalk was pretty covered with all the leftover wrappers from the poppers. 

 While dinner was cooking on the grill, we broke out the ever popular sparklers. I think at first we were all a little nervous seeing all our little boys and girls running around with them but they did really good with them. 

 They would get lit and they would all run around until they burned out. Then they would drop them in the water filled bucket and stand in line for the next one. Last year the boys didn't have any interest in the sparklers and still have boxes of the left in our garage. This year they loved them and didn't seem to get enough of them. 

After dinner we went back outside for our own little firework display. The boys were down at the other end of the porch but were very impressed with the fireworks. I could hear them saying "WOW! That is so cool!" or " That was so awesome!!" After the fireworks we came back inside and had chocolate fondue and relaxed :) 

Feet

So while we were visiting our family, Thomas loved all the crafty things they had. The paper, crayons, markers, kid scissors, etc. The morning of the Forth of July, he came running to me crying and screaming with a bloody finger. Needless to say his index finger got in the way and he clipped the tip of it with his scissors. If there is blood it seems that both of my boys get a little over the top with their injury. So after we bandaged him up and reassured him his finger would heal he seemed to do better. 

At some point he decided that his finger was no longer workable, and thus because one handed. Since he his left handed and he had cut his finger on his right hand he was doing okay. But when he wanted to help shuck the corn for dinner it presented him with a small problem....you really need two hands ( that are workable) to do this job. 

His solution...use his feet to hold down the corn while he peeled off the husks. I found it pretty funny, but I guess he didn't let his "injury" stop him from helping ;) 

Girls night out

When I travel to Michigan it is always nice to catch up with some of my friends and have a girls night out. Devora and I worked with together at Hurley and become good friends. Because if our foodie background and both being dietitians we like to try new places and different types of food. 

This time we decided to take a little trip down to Clarkston... one of the many suburbs Detroit. Although I have been through Clarkston many times this my first time through the little downtown area.  The place we decided to try was Union Wood Shop. It was a nice little restaurant right downtown. We didn't know until we got there but it is actually a Diners, Drive-in, and Dives place (as how on Food Network) so we were pretty excited to try it out. 

 Being a Monday night we didn't think it would think that it would be too much of a wait. But when we found the place we found that the wait was about an hour. We decided to wait and just visit outside as we waited for our table. It was a little warm but we managed to find a bench and catch up while we waited. 

 By the time our table was ready we were both ready to eat, and when you are looking at a menu and your starving everything looked and smelled good. When Devora and I go places we like to try different things, so this time we went with the deep fried pickles. Yes I know we are both RD's and we are ordering deep fried pickles and yes we did get dessert as well but we split it ;)

I didn't get a pic of the pickles but they came with a sauce and they were actually pretty good. It wasn't a one big pickle that you sometimes see, but smaller spears. I ended up getting this BBQ pizza and Devora got the ribs with mac and cheese and baked beans. We shared our entrees as well and they were both really good.

 For dessert we went with the trio of homemade ice cream sandwiches, again forgot the camera because I was too interested in eating it :).  At the end of the meal we both decided that it was worth the wait :) It was a great night with yummy food and great company!

Fun at McDonalds

On Monday we took the day to relax and get things packed up and head over to visit our other side of our family. The boys really wanted to go and see Aunt Sara and get an ice cream at her McDonalds. 

 So for lunch we headed over to Aunt Sara's McDonalds. Since they had just rebuilt the restaurant the boys were pretty impressed with it. Thomas loved the round chairs they had at the booths and quickly claimed it as his when we sat down. 

 I never really knew much about Pokemon, and the boys thought they looked "kinda of weird" but they were fascinated with them. And on they way home they occupied their time in the truck for a long time, so it wasn't too bad for a happy meal toy.  

After visiting with with Aunt Sara for a few minutes we finished up our lunch and our ice cream and headed back to Gramma's to finish packing up. It was a fun little outing for all of us :) 

Big steaks

For our last dinner at Gramma and papa's house, papa made a special dinner for Thomas. As many already know Thomas is a very big meat eater and steak is his favorite. So a dinner with steak with steak sauce (aka A1 sauce) was perfect for Thomas. 

 Thomas was very impressed by the big T-bones. When we have steaks we just have the smaller ones, which are good but not as impressive as a T-bone. Thomas thought these "really huge steaks are so awesome!" He even had to watch them being grilled so when they were ready he was running to the table. Amazingly he ate a good portion of his steak, but did have to have the whole steak on his plate ;)

Since Thomas helped himself and put a whole steak on his plate Sup had to follow suite. And since the plate of steaks were right next to him he stabbed one with a fork and put an entire T-bone on his plate as well ;) I am not sure how much of the sides they ate but they made sure to eat plenty of the steak. 

Fun with Reese

One of the highlights at Gramma is also visiting with Reese. Reese was once our pug and we had gotten him shortly after Eric and I were married. When we moved we couldn't have pets so Reese stayed with my mom, and there he stays ;)

 I would like to say that we raised him to be a pretty good little pug, and is always very good around the boys. He will sit and put up with just about anything and with Sup it is a world of endless opportunities. 

 Sup happened to find a feather duster, and I guess Reese was a little dusty ;) With the warmer weather he did sit/lay around more then usual and may have collected a little dust :)

Poor Reese didn't seem to mind too much, but I sure was happy when Sup found other things to dust. 

Lake Huron

After lunch the boys were so excited to head to the beach. So after cleaning up and changing into our swimsuits we headed down to the beach. I had a hard time thinning down the pictures so there are more then usual.

 The spot we were at was really nice we were able to find a little shady spot for our stuff and headed to the water. Thomas and Sup were pretty excited on how far they could walk in the lake. Because of the sandbars we could walk pretty far without picking them up. 

 The water was great and the boys always have to build a sand castle while at the beach. Sup tried and did a good job then was too interested in finding and collecting the rocks...... he has a lot of his Daddy in him ;)

 Thomas wanted to make sure that the "water" aka Sup didn't knock or wash away his castle so it was very well guarded by the rocks. As you can see he was VERY proud of his creation. 

 Although the lake is actually nice and sandy there were some rocks in the water and there was also a pretty big pile of rocks not too far from the shore. I didn't get a picture of the rock pile but Sup loved going into the water and getting the rocks from the pile and taking them up for his collection, he even made sure that he got one to bring home just for Daddy. 

Since I didn't get a picture of the boys chasing the seagulls at lunch, I was able to get one at down at the beach. Sup couldn't get enough of these silly birds. 

A day out in "the Thumb"

After a long day of driving to Michigan on Tuesday and a day off to rest on Wednesday, we headed up to the thumb on Thursday. For those not familiar with Michigan lingo, "the thumb" might seem like an odd place. Since the state of Michigan is shaped like a mitten towns/cities that are in the thumb of the mitten are often referred to as "in the thumb"or just

"the thumb". Because the thumb is surrounded by Lake Huron, one of the great lakes, it is a popular place for camping and beaches. 

 Since my Gramma lives in the thumb it is a place that we went often to visit and lives close to the beaches. On Thursday morning we piled into the truck for a fun day at the beach. After stopping at Grammas we headed over to Oak Beach. 

 It was a really nice park and the boys loved playing on the playground while we got everything ready for lunch. The boys were very intrigued with the seagulls. I didn't think about it before but we don't see them at home so to see this "really big birdy" was very fun to them. They were both so happy chasing them around. What was even better when you chase them because there was food around they wouldn't fly away so they were always there to chase.  

We had a simple lunch of salads, chips, lemon aid and Koegel hot dogs.....again another MI thing, it is really the only hotdog that people really eat and can only get in MI so it was a nice little treat for me :). It was nice to see my Gramma and visit with her and have the boys see their great gramma. Although it was a pretty hot day with the breeze from the lake it wasn't too bad.  

'matoes and peppers

A day or two before the boys and I left for our trip the tomatoes and banana pepper plants were getting ready to be picked. I was hoping that the bulk of our tomatoes would come after we came home so we would have the opportunity to can them as a variety of items :) 

 Luckily we planted two types of tomatoes and just four plants were starting to turn. We picked the two or three that we seen and where ready to go and try them for a evening snack.   

 Sup was more interested in the banana peppers. They are a more mild variety, and he just took the pepper sat on the porch and ate it almost to the stem. We were all a bit surprised as Sup is one not much of a veggie boy....despite my multiple attempts and usually just eats the pat of butter that I put on top....and two does not do anything remotely spicy. 

One of the best things about a fresh pick tomato for both Eric and myself is a simple tomato "sandwich/toast". I can only do this with a fresh picked tomato, it is not the same with a store bought tomato. Just a toasted piece of bread and little miracle whip and a dash of salt and pepper, it was perfect! The tomato had great favor it will be a evening snack for many nights :) 

Our first raspberries

We first planted our raspberry bushes the first spring we moved into our home. As with most fruit the first two year produce just a few berries. 

 Now that we are in our third year the berries are becoming more plentiful. This is very exciting for all of us. As we watched the berries slowly turn color the boys were getting very excited. We planted a few different types of both raspberries and blackberries. The blackberries may not make it this year with the very hot and dry weeks we have had. But some of the raspberries became ripe before the extreme heat. The orangish ones are a different type so we didn't pick them too soon ;)that is as dark as they get .

 The golden raspberries are a sweeter berry and they were a very popular choice among the boys. Eric and I had picked these on a Saturday evening, and Daddy did have to sacrifice more then his shares of pokes and scratches on his arms from the bushed. As soon as we walked in the back door the boys were ready for their berries.  

I think Eric and I got one of each berry, so between the two of us we had four. The rest were just about inhaled by the boys. Out of the two handfuls I had I think they lasted about 30 seconds and that may be a stretch :)