Saturday Brunch

A week ago Saturday we enjoyed getting to meet the Polanco family.
Joanie was kind enough to make a brunch for us.

Aunt Ariana is so fun.

Joanie's baked french toast and breakfast casserole were a huge hit. 

We brought along fruit, and the Polancos all went out and picked gallons of strawberries that morning. 

They were perfectly ripe and wonderful.

We so enjoyed their family!

I like these two. Miss having Bianca around already.

Fun times around the table.

Hurry back to Greenville!

Swamp Rabbit Trail 5k

I participated in my first 5k on May 4th. Yes, my first. I should be ashamed.
It was a lot of fun to accomplish this small goal. Yes, I was slow, but cut me a little bit of slack since there were over 4,000 people participating and it was 85° even though it was 6:30pm.
And hills. There were hills. In fact the second mile felt like one giant hill.

Nonetheless it was a great experience.

No, I am nowhere near the starting line at this point.

Even though I texted Joshua as I crossed the starting line, there were so many people that he never saw me run by. Here are the masses. Needless to say, Parsley was very entertained.

Ahh! I made it!

It was so fun to see Joshua and Parsley waiting for me at the end. Joshua was super encouraging through the whole thing. 

This was a great family event with lots of kids and strollers (yes, I even saw a man pushing a triple stroller!). Since Joshua has all sorts of issues with his knees, he can't run on concrete. I have to admit, I was incredibly grateful that the stroller was with him and not with me.

One of us is a quite unimpressed with the sun in her eyes.

 Thanks, Greenville Hospital System. Well done on putting together another SRT 5k!

Fun with Uncle Clark-Everett

"Clark" was one of the first names that Parsley was able to say...with an over-emphasis on the "ar" part, I might add. He had worked hard to accomplish this goal, and didn't want her to be bogged down by "Everett" or "Uncle." His plan worked.

Clarks is also the closest thing to a roller coaster that Parsley has experienced.

Thanks for the fun times, Uncle Clark.

Ian and Larissa

Was blessed by this.

More

Never thought you could get tired of seeing roses, did you?

Don't drop out on me quite yet...

Hard to track down this busy little bee.

Strawberry Picking!

Ahh. Certainly one of the best times of the year.
These tasty little fellows rolled in early this year. So we packed up our things and went for a little picking. Sandy Flat must grow the best in the world.
I stopped to go for a run before we reached Sandy Flat, so by the time we reached the rows and rows of strawberry goodness, Parsley had fallen asleep.
Pretty much perfect timing. She slept while I picked.
And then I couldn't stand the thought of her first strawberry-picking experience being such a non-experience.
So I did what every decent mother would do.
I woke her up.

She was a bit out of sorts as I threw her hair into pixie twists.

 Until I introduced her to the berry sweetness.

Then she was just hard to stop.

After her first little berry (as I was trying to take her picture) she just kept saying "strawberry," "strawberry."

I finally said, "Ok, you may have one more."

I've never heard her say anything with more enthusiasm than as she said "Day-doo (thank you), Mommy! Oh, day-doo, Mommy!!"

Melted my heart.

She proceeded to take a strawberry out of the basket and take a bite out of it. She then began to put it back into the basket, but before letting go of it she decided she just couldn't resist and brought it back up for another bite.

Hilarious.

And I did let her eat more than one more.

Thanks for the help, my little Strawberry Fairy.