Fresh Strawberries

On Friday the kids and I picked 6 gallons of strawberries! Every year I think I'm picking enough to last a while and they're always gone before I know it. We've eaten a lot over the weekend, but I froze at least 4 gallons. After we pick blueberries in June we will have the best smoothies. Too bad there are no U-pick banana farms in Atlanta :)

Our little pickers actually do quite well choosing only the ripe berries.
We've gone with our friends the Frasers for about 4 years.

(l to r: Caleb, Nate, Kate, Aden, Ian, Meg, Anna, and Abby in car seat)

Flashback from 2004
(L to R: Anneke, Anna, Maggie, Meg, Ian, Liske, Nate)

Another Baby Bird

This one got tired of waiting for his mother to feed him and went foraging on his own.

We Have Baby Birds!!

Today I looked in the birdhouse on our deck railing and saw six brand new, sleepy, helpless little baby birds!! (I can't tell if the egg at the bottom of the picture has hatched yet, so it may be seven.) As soon as I opened the lid their little mouths popped open hoping for some lunch. They didn't even make any noise.

There was a bird nearby on a tree branch that seemed to be scolding us, so we came inside. When we went back out later to show Erik, I opened the lid and sure enough, the mother bird was back on the nest. So, of course I got my camera and went back out to take her picture. This time as soon as I opened the lid she flew away. I guess we need to back off for a while so she doesn't abandon her nest. I found some pictures on line, I think it is a Carolina Capped Chickadee: http://www.sialis.org/nestscach.htm. I got out my "Bee-Nock-Lears" (Kate) so if we see her in the tree again we can get a good look without scaring her off.

Wedding Photos

This weekend we went to Chicago for the wedding of Erik's sister Bethany and Nate Johnson. It was very beautiful. Meg and Nate (and their cousins Kylie and Tyler) were flower girls and ring bearers. Here are a few pictures of the big day. Congratulations Nate and Bethany!!

Happy Easter!

Best Friends

Easter Egg Hunt