Canning Pears

My aunt and I were able to get 4 boxes of pears to can for our food storage. She came down yesterday and we spent 12 hours peeling, cutting, coring, and canning pears. We only canned 3 of the 4 boxes and ended up with 61 jars of pears. The last box wasn't quite ripe enough so we left it for later. M and I are going to dehydrate those instead. Here are the results of our labor.

Left side of counter.

Right side of counter.

All our jars lined up in rows. Isn't it a lovely sight?

It made us proud to see the fruits of our labor.

Thanks Karen for coming down and doing this with me.

I know I never would have made it through even one

box if I had been doing it alone.

Teeter-Totter

Grandma had a swiveling teeter-totter that they no longer use so she gave it to us. It is in great shape, just needed another screw to hold one of the seats on. We set it up in our backyard and the girls love it. The neat thing about it is that you can offset the center bar so that heavier and lighter kids can see-saw together. Very fun.

L and Peppers

We grew some really sweet bell peppers in our garden this year and L loves them. She grabbed a hold of one of them and wouldn't give it up. She just walked around kitchen taking bites off of it. It was very cute.

Granny and Papa come to visit

My parents came out to visit us for a week. We were excited to have them and the girls loved playing with them. Papa played hide and seek with them, took K to the park, read to them and played games with them. Granny played board games and colored with K and read to them. They had a wonderful time.

Here the girls are hiding from Papa.

Papa and L.

Papa playing with K.

Granny reading to K.

Papa reading to K.

Granny and L.

At the Beach

It has become tradition that when my parents come we go to the coast for a few days. This year we were able to stay in my aunts new beach house. We went shopping our first morning at the outlet mall but after that we just relaxed at the house and enjoyed the ocean views.

Here is the view from the living room.

Papa playing with L.

Auntie came down for lunch one day and visited.

A couple of the days we were the there, the waves were huge.

I had never seen them that big before. It was really beautiful.

The girls coloring with Granny.

Enjoying the view.

Reading and laughing with Granny.

On the Beach

Papa and Daddy took K down to play in the sand. We brought her sand toys, but she preferred to play in the sand with just her hands. She really liked walking around by the ocean, too.

Looking at the big waves.

Walking in her rain boots. Really helps cut down on the sand in her shoes.

Us and our shadow.

Playing in the sand.

Queen of the hill.

I love this pose!

Down the Coast

We always take the coastal highway home so we can stop at all the lookout points and enjoy the ocean. The day we left the weather was perfectly sunny and warm. The waves were the biggest I have ever seen them; it was a beautiful sight.

My family enjoying the view.

My darling little girls.

Papa, Daddy, K and L at Depot Bay.

These pictures don't do the view justice.

You can't see just how big the waves are.

Depot Bay

Spray off the rocks.

What a gorgeous sight.

Surfers trying to catch a wave.

Papa and K.

Daddy took K and L out into the water. K said it was cold and L hated it!

L didn't like the feel of wet sand on her feet and wanted up.

Daddy and K went for a run down the beach.

Here they are returning and L is very happy to see them.

Papa and L walking around.

Bowling with Friends

K had a play date at the bowling alley with her friend Hannah from school. Neither of them had ever bowled before but they did great and had a wonderful time. After bowling we headed over to Abby's Pizza for some dinner and games. They have a little room with lots of games to play. Each game dispensed tickets based on how well you do and then you can turn those in for a little prize. The girls had a great time doing that too. K walked away with a bracelet, a dinosaur and a butterfly.

K rolling her ball down the lane.

The girls really liked waiting for the balls to emerge.

Hannah taking her turn.

Even L got to take a turn.

Before we left the alley, the girls played air hockey.

They both did a great job, very good hand-eye coordination.

Book Club

I was the host of our church's monthly book club this month. The book we chose to read was Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. The book was a great book and we had a huge turn out to discuss it. Everyone agreed it was a great read and can't wait for the sequel, Catching Fire, to be released.
For the food, I chose to make Carrot Soup, Sunflower Seed Bread, Chocolate Zucchini Cake, nuts, jerky, strawberries and blueberries. The food turned out really tasty, with the help of my wonderful husband.

Random Photos

L's camo butterflies.

Sisterly love.

K and L.

One of our pumpkins with a little visitor.

Close-up of frog. We have been getting quite a few of these in our garden.

K's drawing of our family.

Catchin' some breeze.

Playing with the blanket.