Danger? We laugh in the face of danger!
On our way up to get peaches in Brigham City, we stopped at Smith and Edwards to pick up some nylon para cord to make survival bracelets. So we are ready when disaster strikes! We had invited ourselves up to spend the weekend with Darin's parents so we just kept going north. Darin and his dad spent one day making the yummiest pear leather ever. So when we left we came home with not only Brigham city peaches but also a box of very ripe pears to make MORE yummy fruit leather, bags of grated zucchini, a few varieties of squash AND some strained raspberry juice. My in-laws are so very generous with their garden! While there we finished Harry Potter and got to have our HP movie night on their flat screen.
The next week I canned the peaches (only got 9 quarts...wish I had gotten more), made more pear leather, some pear butter (which is heaven on toast), raspberry jam (attempting syrup but over boiled it, which is funny since when I tried to make grape jam, one batch turned into grape syrup...whatever, its all sticky sweetness great for pancakes!) and roasted tons of our tomates for 4 quarts of tomato sauce.
It was fruit fly haven in our kitchen, but those buggers just kept me motivated to get it all done. I will be roasting tomatoes for the next two months so don't be surprised when I smell like garlic the next time we meet.
On our way home from our weekend visit we did a drive by to the Brigham city temple and then drove through the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
We were there from just before dusk to sunset (when it closes) and it was gorgeous! We saw pelicans, American Avocets, Great Blue Herons, tons and tons of Coots, American Bittern, Black Crown Night Heron, White-Faced Ibis, Snowy Egret, raccoons, 2 deer, and lots of huge carp stuck in the receding river mud.
It was fun, and I am glad we went but lest I give the impression that we have nothing but fun! fun! fun! when we do family outings I will write a script of what it was like in our car on the drive out.
We had been singing Pioneer Children and then Soren took it to the next level.
Soren: "and walked and walked and walked and walked........(for the next 10 min)
Byron: "SOREN STOP! STOP! STOP!"
Darin: "Byron you are making it worse, just ignore him!"
Me attempting to distract B: "Byron here are your binoculars."
Miriam:"Give them to me!"
Me: "No, they are for Byron."
Miriam: "I don't have anything to see with!! Well, at least I get the window seat."
Byron: "MOOOOOM I can't see out of the window!
(Soren still saying "walked and walked and walked and walked. . .")
Byron and then Soren: "can we watch a movie?!"
Darin: "We are NOT watching a movie while in this amazing bird refuge!"
Me: "maybe we should put something in for Soren...with headphones so he will stop talking."
(I put in Very Hungry Caterpillar, which the other two aren't too interested in.)
This went on for a good mind numbing 15 min.
When we tried to let the kids out for a better look, the mosquitoes and horse flies would swarm us, rolling down the window caused the same problem. Until the last stop at the outlook, I guess by then it cooled off too much or something and it was pleasant.
Family time is not a break that is for sure, but it is worth it. I am glad we went, and I would go again (with more treats, lots of bug spray, some sort of non-whining bribe).
