"Little Bear and his mother and Little Sal and her mother were all mixed up with each other among the blueberries on blueberry hill."
Remember Blueberries for Sal by Robert McClusky? Oh how I love that book.
My cousin-sisters visited again this summer. We had 8 kids between us, and although it doesn't sound like a lot, it was a lot. Once again, all the mamas and all the kiddos mixed up with each other and with margaritas in hand, we generally tried to keep tantrums at bay, naps taken, children fed, and memories made.
We started with a trip to JaKo Farms, where Farmer Nick put us in the back of his van, then let us out to introduce us to our future meals.
Don't be so scared, kitty, we won't be eating you!
berry picking! warm, squooshy, juicy. yum.
At first the hogs were tentative and then we all became friends and they got mixed up in the jumble of kids and mamas too.
If you live in the area and haven't yet started, you need to start purchasing your meat at www.jakoinc.com.The animals there have an awesome life, and Ryan says the meat is delicious. They sell cheese and milk and homebaked goods and all kinds of other stuff too.
Picnic on the porch, which was followed by a good hosing off in the dairy barn.
Later, it was movie night on the lawn...
Mary Poppins. Chim-chiminy. Good times.
And leave it to the aunties to bring fun things like egg hunts, crafts, and sparklers. As if things aren't crazy enough around here, let's hand the children some fire.
We managed a total of one adult conversation - pieced together over 2 days of 1 minute intervals.
But I love how big and jumbled up we all get when we're together. This is family.