A Summer in Review

You already know that I am not a faithful summertime blogger.

The sunshine and the picnics and the bike rides and the pool trips are all just too distracting. Who wants to sit at the computer when the ice cream truck is rolling down the street playing its magical music? Not me, that's for sure.

I would apologize but truly, I'm not that sorry.

I. Love. Summer.

Instead, I offer you the now-annual Summer in Review:

1.) We gardened again, of course. After Andy's fierce war with the deer last year, he approached this growing season with a new found... determination. Here he is constructing the bulwarks fence. He takes his gardening seriously people.

But the end result is glorious. Hello veggies!
(The list for posterity: bell peppers, green beans, roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, rattlesnake beans, basil, stevia, and strawberries.)

2.) We rounded up all the kiddos and put them to work in the fields took them strawberry picking. They were impressive strawberry picking machines.

3.) We hit the blueberry farm as well and picked 24 pounds of blueberries. (Not counting the two pounds in Pickle's belly.)

4.) The playdates with friends were frequent and loud.

5.) We hit the Pittsburgh Zoo.

6.) And we ended the summer with an Ethiopian cooking night/mini-Nyack reunion courtesy of our dear friend and Ethiopian chef extraordinaire, Kristen. (On the far left with her daughter.) She has been married to a wonderful Ethiopian man for almost 10 years now and it is safe to say she has picked up a few things in the kitchen over the years which she happily tried to pass on to us. I was a little concerned how my hamburger & pizza loving girls would welcome the culinary adventure but Janelle had three helpings that night and Lilly requested leftovers for lunch the next day. Score.

Last Summer:

This Summer:

As always, time continues to fly...