After we went picking last year, I couldn’t wait to get back out to the blueberry patch to pick some more. And with this year being easier with Baby Girl walking and able to help, we rounded up about 6 pounds of blueberries by the time we were finished. That’s a TON of blueberries! Although we would have had way more but Addison kept eating them as we went along.

Once we returned home, I quickly made a couple of blueberry daiquiris (delicious!) and a homemade cobbler. Both amazing. I’m hoping we can get one more visit out of the season and head back for more next weekend. If not, I’ll be counting down the months until next year’s crop. :)

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Here is a butt-load of pictures that I took with my new lens of Mike and Jack in the pool. I absolutely love freezing water in motion. And Jack is such a crazy man in the pool these days that he provides me with lots of opportunities to capture him flailing through the water.

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Last weekend was Mike’s 11th year of participation in the St. Anthony’s triathlon in St. Pete. And he did great! We were lucky to have Mamie and Pop take the babes for a couple of nights which left us with an adult weekend and me specifically, a time to take some pictures of Mike along the course. We were also able to top off the weekend with dinner at Bern’s. So great! Thanks again Mamie & Pop!

*You’ll see a couple of pictures of someone other than Mike…..that is Hines Ward who was also competing. I saw him and snapped a couple of pictures. :)

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Ok, I am realllly late on getting this post together but April was a very crazy month. After tallying up the days, Mike was gone for 14 out of 30 days in April. Holy moly! Talk about a busy man. But, that’s what happens when you get a promotion and have an entire new orbit to put together and run. So, for now he gets a pass. ;)

But in being so busy, I did not get around to posting a big happy birthday wish to my love. So, I suck. Sorry sweets!

Happy birthday Mike!

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I finally got my Gainesville fix! We took the kids up over the weekend for the annual Orange & Blue Debut, or UF’s spring football scrimmage. It was Addison’s first football experience in the actual stadium since she arrived last year mid-season. She had such a great time! I got a lot of nice pictures of the family enjoying the beautiful weather and laid-back atmosphere knowing that no matter who won, we’d be happy!

Can’t wait until the fall! Go Gators!

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Of course living in Florida do we really get a “winter” but it has been a little bit cooler lately, so when the weather warmed up a bit this past weekend, Mike and the kids took to the pool and had a great time. Of course, mama stood on the side snapping pictures like I always do. But that’s because the water was still a little on the cool side for my taste and no one needs to see me in a bathing suit right now anyway. ;)

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Easter morning arrived with much anticipation because someone special had visited! He left treats and sweets behind for many to enjoy. The kids loved digging into their baskets and seeing what EB left for them. Then we headed to the Edison for a lovely Easter brunch with family. And you know we can’t do just one egg hunt…..we must do TWO! So, Uncles Andy and Dave were kind enough to take on the task of hiding the eggs for Jack and Addison to find.

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Our old neighborhood holds an Easter egg hunt every year on the island across from its’ marina. This was the third year we signed up for it, although it’s the first year we actually made it. That’s because they hold it on the Saturday before Easter Sunday and if you’re not there early, you can miss it because it goes so fast. We failed to notice that last year when we signed up! Good thing the kids were none the wiser because they probably would have been a little sad to have missed it. But, this year we made it and were fortunate enough to have Pops & Nina join us for the fun.

Understanding that these hunts can last at MOST around 5 minutes tops, I knew my picture-taking opportunity would be a small window. At least with Jack’s age group. Those 3-5-year-olds can run fast while snatching up as many eggs as their little fingers can reach….with lightning speed! So, sadly I only got a few of Jack grabbing a modest but admirable amount of eggs before he looked up to notice that they were all gone. I was actually very proud of his final count.

Addie’s age group moves a little slower and with less fervor as they have yet to learn the adage of “He who has the most eggs, wins.” So, she was able to meander and pick up the eggs at her leisure. And she got quite the basketful! That enabled me to sneak a few of her eggs into Jack’s without so much of a peep. Win-win!

We had a great time and look forward to heading back next year!

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To start out the Easter celebration, we began by dying some eggs. The kids actually did pretty well with the task and didn’t make too much of a mess. We certainly had some green and blue hands but that cleaned up rather easily. There were also a few eggs that didn’t make it but I think that’s all part of the learning process when it comes to little hands.

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To end our day of fun (see: Strawberries & Woods previous posts), we ended up at the Lee County Fair mainly to support our super adorable sitter, Al and her 4H endeavors at raising and selling a pig (yep, 3rd year in a row we’ve bought an entire pig). But, we also managed to get some fun rides in before the large hordes of people descended upon the place. Addison managed to fall asleep right after we got there, but that didn’t deter Jack’s amusement with various rides and the occasional fair fare…haha. Yes, we dined fancifully upon kettle corn, elephant ears (ie: fried dough!), and more. They do that on purpose, you know. They put the food vendors right at the front, wafting their concoctions toward our olfactory senses and setting them on edge. I just can’t pass up fried dough!

 I’ve included a picture of Al, but unfortunately the pig pavilion was already closed and we were unable to get a shot of Diesel, the pig. That’s okay. I really can’t look what I might eat in the future square in the face. Just makes it too real.

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