Strawberry Picking and a New Hat

We did one of our favorite springtime things this week: strawberry picking at Froberg's Farm. This year we went with cousins and had a great time! In the past I've only been able to pick one bucket but this year I got Clark his own bucket and he turned out to be a very industrious little berry picker. Lana even got in on the action. There were so many berries that we filled our buckets in no time and had a picnic afterwards. The week before we went I tried to get the kids some new hats for the sunny summer but couldn't find one for Clark anywhere so I made one last-minute using the free Oliver + S bucket hat pattern. It turned out so cute and fits him perfectly. No sunburns for us!

A Quilt for Lana

Last week I finished a quilt for Lana that has been in the works for over a year! I designed it based off an Amy Butler fabric I was going to use in her crib bedding but changed my mind. Steve's mom helped me prepare all the shapes for applique using the freezer paper and basting method then I appliqued them all on using a blind hem stitch on my machine. When I finished the quilt top I got intimidated by the quilting part and I debated sending it off to a quilter for months, then finally one day last fall I decided to do it myself. I wanted it echo quilted but didn't quite know how to do it. I tried it first with pen and paper then sat down at my machine and figured it out as I went. It took hours but I love how it turned out. Then it sat for a few more months as we moved and got settled. Last week I finally got the binding done so now Lana has a crib blanket. 

I think she likes it!

Springtime in the Suburbs

Last year at this time when we were house-hunting we'd drive by this sea of flowers every weekend and I determined that when we lived here I'd take the kids and get some pictures there. Now that we live here I see this lovely sight everyday. The kids let me dress them up and take a few pictures of them. And I mean only a few. 

Lana refuses to set eyes on my camera so I'll consider this a practice round prior to taking pictures in the blue bonnets in a few weeks.

Happy St. Pat's

In honor of St. Patrick's Day we did some holiday crafting last week. Clark doesn't quite know what St. Patrick's is about but he loved the idea of cutting, gluing, and glitter. So that's what we did. I saw these cute crepe paper rainbows on Pinterest and it seemed easy enough. Most importantly short enough for the attention span of a 3 year-old. 

Clark loves his little "rain-a-bows" and we had a fun time crafting our festive decorations together.

Rained Out at Brazos Bend State Park

We decided to change things up last Saturday and visit Brazos Bend State Park. It's the closest state park to us at just under 30 minutes away AND its claim to fame is that it's home to alligators. Lots of them, just roaming out and about. Once we were in the park the first hiking trail we took led us not to alligators, but to a vulture convention. It was eerie so we left Creepsville and headed over to the more populous area where the alligators are.

We saw a few alligators and some bright pink birds from an observation pier and loved looking at all the live oak trees with Spanish moss.

Though I had hoped not to encounter an alligator on the trail we were looking forward to seeing a fair amount of wildlife. Instead, all we saw after starting down the trail was rain, rain, and more rain. At first it was a light sprinkle. NBD. Then it turned into a downpour and we were speed walking our way next to the swamp, through the woods, back to the car. Even at that pace it was still a good 30-minute walk. 

Ah...the family memories. It was a beautiful place and the greens were so vivid in the rain. Some day we hope to go back when the forecast is a little less precipitous.