Random pics

Here's Addie showing me the cool fish from the Aquarium. She loves the "tot" room though she's quickly outgrowing it. This day we went and saw the new traveling seahorse exhibit. Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the best aquariums in the world.











Addie was pretty excited to get to hold baby Claire.

















Claire was so content in Haley's arms that she ended up falling asleep that day. Haley can't get enough of holding babies. Hmm, who does that remind you of?

















Addie and I did pedis and manis together the other day while Haley was on the computer. It's so funny that these girls fight over computer time. Addie is growing up way too quickly. She absolutely loves to get her toes painted. Who doesn't?

My girls know how to cuddle. They remind me very much of cats the way they curl up on each other and they just get so comfortable when they get settled in to watch one of their "programs".

After Berry Time

After picking berries, we had a picnic lunch outside followed by some ice cream. In the back of the barn, they have bales of hay that the kids can climb on, through or in the case of our girls learn to jump off of. Their faces here are priceless.















Addie actually figured it out first and then of course Haley had to have her turn. You can't be shown up by your baby sister after all. It must have felt very freeing because the did it about twenty times each. Poor Jamie, his arms will be tired tomorrow.













I don't think I'll ever regret taking this picture. Addie's still in the stage where it's cute if your bum shows. If it's Haley, we're always yelling at her to pull her pants up.

















Haley with Ella walking back and forth on top of the hay bales. The girls had so much fun today.

These girls have so much attitude sometimes it kills me. Look happy for the camera. You're eating ice cream! They have some of the best pies at Gizdich. We brought home an Olallieberry pie which is kind of similar to a blackberry but four times as sweet. It's amazing.

Strawberry Fields Forever

For those of you who don't know, Saturday is Family Fun Day around the VanDyke household. This morning we went to Gizdich Farms in Watsonville, CA which is about 45 minutes from Monterey. It was worth the drive though. The girls (and mostly me) had an awesome time with our friends the Beaches picking some of the best berries I've ever seen (or tasted).







Here's a cool pic of Addie showing me what you can do with an empty bucket. I wonder where all of her strawberries went too. It was either in her mouth or in Hallie's bucket.



















Here's a nice group shot. Well not really, no one is looking at the camera in this pic, but if you can see Haley's face it's priceless. I think she got ahold of a bad strawberry. "Honey, if it's on the ground you shouldn't eat it!"









All total, we ended up with about 13 lbs of berries today. We basically have been giving them to neighbors all afternoon and evening. Of course we can freeze some, but we might as well share the wealth.








The girls really did enjoy their time with each other today. I'll highlight some of the events after berry-picking in our next post!