The Past Few Weeks

So on top of the other things I've been posting about, here's what else we've been up to for the past few weeks--

1. The River

We hung out at the River again with Elina's best friend, A, and his mom and dad.  This time J joined us (for the first time) and she had a blast as well.

It was another fun-filled, relaxing day by the water.  
The kids played in the water,

looked for critters,

watched leafcutter ants, whittled sticks (yes, this is how Elina likes to spend her time),

did some tubing,

and made s'mores.

We just love the River!!

Eulee was the best day camper...took naps in the Ergo and didn't make a peep...until the car ride home.  She screamed for the entire 25 minute drive.  But it was totally understandable.  

2. Strawberry Picking

We went strawberry picking with AJ and 2 of her kids and with Aunt A this year.  We decided to go on a Friday when Elina had a half-day at school.  I was really thankful to have Aunt A there because if it had been  just me and the kids, I would have picked a grand total of 20 berries.  Eulee was having a rotten day and just would not let me do a single thing.
I took the stroller because in my mind I imagined her quietly sitting in the stroller while I hummed and picked strawberries next to her.  Nope.  Not even close.  Instead, she screamed in the stroller while I pushed her to the strawberries.  So I had to put her in the Ergo.  She was ok in the carrier, but every time I bent down to pick a berry, she'd start to hyperventilate and cry.  Ugh.  So I rocked her in the Ergo and she fell asleep.  I figured this was my chance to start picking some berries!   Nope.  Not even close.  Every time I bent down, she'd stir and moan.  Then the minute I stood back up, she'd fall right back to sleep.  Double ugh!  So that's how my trip to the strawberry patch went.  

Here's how it went down for Aunt A and the kids.  Eli and Evie were done after 30 minutes.  They were both fighting about sitting in Eulee's stroller.  How sad!

Elina lasted the whole time...with some prodding.  She picked about 5 pounds, which was pretty impressive.

Aunt A did most of the picking.  We ended up with a grand total of 20 pounds!

The berries were dee-lish, but since we had so many, that same night I had to prep them and freeze them for later use.  It was a lot of work.  

AJ and I were joking that we essentially paid the farmers money to do the hard labor of picking the berries...then we still had extra work to do after the kids went to bed!  Wow.  We are suckers.  BUT it was totally fun for the kids (for the most part) and the berries are super-duper yummy.  

3. Shen Yun

My whole family and Elina went to see this show about Chinese history and dance.  We figured Eli and Evie were too young for it, so they didn't get to go with us.  Luckily, we have the bestest friends ever!  Elina's best friend A and his parents came over to the house to watch Eli, Evie, and Eulee while we all went to watch the show.  Are they the best or what?  This definitely made it easier for Eli to see us leave.  

The show itself was....not totally what we expected.  Since the ticket prices were really high, I was expecting something a little different.  Don't get me wrong, the dancing and costumes were amazing!  But there were just a few things that were "off" about the show.  There's some political stuff thrown in...some slightly awkward vocal solos...a weird setup for the background screen.  But all in all, it was still a good show. 

4. A Week of Cakes

Last week I made 4 cakes!  I know, I'm crazy.  I think this is why I haven't been really in the mood to cook lately.  I just don't want to be in there anymore.  Ha!  First I had to make J a cake (we celebrated when she came to watch Shen Yun).

I made a triple decker chocolate icebox cake.  It was pretty delicious!  I loved that the icing was easy to make and that the cake was supposed to stay in the fridge.  I hate the buttercream icing dilemma--if I leave it in the fridge, it'll get dry...but if I leave it out, will it go bad faster?  Ugh. So this cake was perfect!

Then we celebrated Eli's teacher assistant's birthday at school.  I made chocolate buttermilk cupcakes with chocolate marshmallow frosting for the kids.  Super yum!  Plus, I made a chocolate espresso pound cake for the teacher to take home to eat.  Double yum!  I split the pound cake into 2 half-bundts so that we could keep one.  Best decision ever!

Then, I had to make B his birthday cake.  I decided to attempt a chocolate raspberry cake, since that is his favorite flavor combo.  This was the most work I've ever done on a cake.  I actually had to take thawed frozen raspberries and press them through a sieve to get the pulp and juice without the seeds!  Then I mixed that into the batter.  I iced it with a chocolate ganache and then decorated with raspberries and powdered donuts (another one of B's favorite things in life).  It was a pretty cake and tasted totally yummy....BUT I wanted the raspberry taste to come through more.  After all that hard work I did, I expected more raspberry flavoring!  Argh!!  But everyone seemed to like the cake, especially B.

Phew!  Good thing there aren't anymore birthdays for awhile.  I'm kinda caked out.  (But am I?  Really??)

5. Karate

Elina, Eli, and Evie started karate about a month ago.  They all LOVE it!  All of them are doing well...even Evie!  I didn't think she had it in her to pay attention for 45 minutes in a class....but she is yelling "Yes, Sir!" and doing side kicks alongside her big sis and big bro and loving every single minute of it.  And I absolutely love that I can send 3 out of 4 kids into a class for almost an hour!  The only thing that makes me sad is that I can't get pictures and videos most of the time because I'm usually nursing Eulee.  The kids have been doing WAY cool stuff...I just haven't been able to capture it.  They've been breaking boards, doing handstands on the wall, and practicing kicks while jumping on the trampoline.  They are really really enjoying themselves! (Don't let Evie's stoic face in the picture below fool you.  She just woke up from a nap, so she wasn't as into it as the other kids were.  But she perked right up when we got to karate.)

So that's what's been going on lately.  Thanks for reading the quick recap!