My friend posted this on their family blog and I couldn't resist copying it. It's SO COOL! :)

"They should have weighed me before and after I came in!"

This was said by a fellow patron leaving as we were coming.

Mmm-mmm! Strawberry time is here! 

We went to one of the strawberry patches in our area yesterday afternoon. It was a great day!

Bart hard at work.

Charlie hardly worked.

Jane ate the goods.

Charlie found the only mud in the whole place.

We watched a peacock fan his feathers out (not pictured) and saw bunnies and baby goats (also not pictured).

And enjoyed the sunshine together. It was such a 

GOOD DAY!!

The truth will set you free...

Charlie has picked up and is trying a few new phrases at our house. Two of them are "That's not true!" AND "It's your fault!" (Side note: can I just mention how humbling it is when your kid starts saying things he's heard in the home?)

This was said at the dinner table today:

"I have a couple of good looking kids!" Anne said.

"That's not true!" thundered Charlie. Then pointing to Bart, "It's YOUR FAULT!"

ARRRRRGH!

"Mommy, Mommy! C'mere!"

I rush in to see Charlie holding a blue M&M over his eye.

"I have a pirate in my eye! ARRRGH!"

"But I don't WANT to go camping in the COLD and the RAIN..."

Why do  I even bother? (anyone who knows Bart well will know EXACTLY what I'm talking about...)

For the record, I love camping! 

There's nothing like the fresh air to stimulate a mind after it has been 

pulverized by three weeks of 

NO DAY OFF. 

That being said, however, I have my limits!

And YES OF COURSE we went camping--in the cold...and the rain.

And YES OF COURSE it was still fun...ish. ;)

Jane was fascinated with the bug on the rock. She hi-tailed it when said bug suddenly decided to flee from the rock and move her way.

This picture was taken just before that moment.

Charlie and Jane played in the tent for the first hour and didn't want to get out!

I'll give a penny to anyone who can tell me what Charlie is doing in this picture.

It didn't matter where we were or what we were doing, if we said, 

"Do you want to go back to the tent?" Charlie said, "YEAH!"

Despite being a mini-vacation, Jane still had work to do.

Jane's already short enough, don't you think, without having to cut her legs off??

The car ride home:

What's that you say? Where are the COLD and the RAIN in these photos? 

Oh, that's right. Those happened in the evening and all night long!

Gotcha.

the birthday celebration continues...

For his birthday, Bart received a bike and bike rack (to haul on the back of a car) from us and both sets of our parents. 

He was ecstatic to try it out...along with the trailer that Pog sent almost a year ago.

I'm sure we'll get some good use out of it!

THANKS!

Butt vs. Butt

Homograph: Words that are spelled the same but have different meanings.

The word in Question: BUTT

The Dictionary's Definition

Butt: (n) Slang for the rear pelvic area of the human body.

Jane's Definition

Butt: (n) The Bellybutton

Jane has a newfound obsession with her bellybutton. In fact, she plays with it so much that sometimes her "innie" becomes an "outie" and has little scabs from where her nails have caught it.

She has also learned what this body part is called. The BUTT.

It's the cutest thing when she points to her little naval and says, "BUTT!"

It's even MORE CUTE when she asks to see YOUR "Butt" by pulling up your shirt. Yeah, I guess we should work on those things that are socially acceptable--or NOT.

And it's not, I repeat, NOT an April Fool's Joke!

"Oh, my goodness! My daddy turns 30 today?"

"He may as well give up now..."

NOT!

(gotta love the 90's!)

Last night Bart turned to me and said,

"My mom was in labor with me 30 years ago..."

And of course, we're glad she was! 

This day we are going to celebrate Bart's life. 

Not the whole thing, mind you. There's TOO MUCH for this one post, but hopefully we'll catch a glimpse of those particulars that make Bart who he is--the man we love.

Of course, there were other birthdays; 30 of them to be exact!

And having an AWESOME wife, never hurt his credentials...

Although, without Bart I wouldn't be as adventurous as I am nor have nearly the amount of AWESOME memories to account for, so I guess we could say

Bart makes me awesome!

He's never too cool to play...

or be silly...

There is always something to do. We NEVER waste a day off!

According to Bart, it's never too cold for shorts, 

or too formal to wear his bright red shoes.

Bart is a firm believer of the Peter Pan/Pirate effect:

When you put kids to bed, they just wake up a day older. 

He loves his kiddos.

The moment he walks in the door, he's got at least one of them in his arms...

He tries to spend every waking moment with them.

Telling them what he's doing...

Documenting them,

Splashing in the puddles...

Singing in the rain...

Going for hikes...

building their skills,

giving them talks...

teaching them the true ways of the FORCE,

or helping them realize their capacity for learning.

Happy Birthday, my sweet! 

I can't wait to see what your next 30 years hold!