Blackberries...yummy!

It's blackberry season here in IL. So Robert and set off to pick berries at Alice's house. You may remember my pie post about her. She was so gracious to invite us. These bushes are about 25 years old she told us. We had a good time. It was muggy outside but it didn't take long for us to fill up a huge bucket enough for 3 pies. Yeah!!!!

Aren't they delicious looking?

my little helper driving the golf cart, he loved that!

a handful of summery goodness!

my little helper

My first idea for the blackberries was to make the crisp I had seen in The Farmchicks book. The only modification I made was to add a little bit of white sugar. Alice said that these berries can be quite sour. I only used two cups of fresh berries so that's about 1 cup of sugar all together. This recipe was super simple.

Here's what it looked like out of the oven, juicy and bubbling!

I served it with some vanilla bean icecream and it was to die for, very yummy.

Well, today since I have so many berries I'll probably make a pie. Tomorrow, I'm off to IN for the weekend to pick up our daughter look at some more houses and we'll drop off my son with his grandparents. Have a great weekend!

Carey

Sunflowers and Crows

my coffee table

my seasonal tree

I spent Thursday and Friday rearranging and getting ready for Fall. I cleaned out our coat closet and downstairs closet where we keep off season clothes. I took 5 big bags to donate and some to my neighbor. I still have my thrift store stuff in the living room ugh!! I can't wait to get it all taken in ... I can only donate 14 items at a time. I'm still trying to keep our move in the back of my mind so I'll be ready if we find a house and have to start packing. It could be next week or next spring! Anyway, no need to hold onto stuff we don't need or old coats and clothes.

I took some pictures of some things I changed and I still want to add some yarrow to my tree so if anyone has a source for this let me know. I looked this weekend and most of the usual craft stores and didn't find it. Hobby Lobby has floral 50% off so if you need some mums for fall florals go now! Also, I got the cute little crow there too.

Lisa from Primitives from above made my little sign. I moved it from my bathroom.

my mom made these for me a long time ago, not very prim but I just can't part with them for sentimental reasons

my kitchen counter top, I got this stichin' last fall and I have had this basket for awhile, I got it with a candle and painted the basket black.

my front door

a wall basket with some crows tucked inside

Have a great day!

Carey

Disney part 3 and Jeff's Birthday!

Surprise Daddy!

On day 4 of our Disney trip we went to Blizzard Beach and I didn't take a waterproof camera so I didn't get any shots of that day. We went to the illuminations Show at Epcot at 9 that evening. I recommend getting their early so you can see well because the earth in the middle of the little lake is well worth it. We also rode some of our favorite rides again. We did spaceship earth a favorite for all of us. Then afterwards we did Soarin' it was so awesome. I didn't think I could do it because I'm afraid of heights but the ride is so smooth and when they turn off the lights you don't even realize you're up in the air. I enjoyed that kind of flying.



The last day we went to Animal Kingdom because it opened early and this is what it looks like when your family gets bored waiting for a bus and they have nothing better to do. LOL!

A shot of my daughter in her new specs. I think she is so pretty.

This tree of life was something to see. It's not real but manmade and when you get up close it has animal carvings literally all over it. One of the 3-D movies was inside this...a bug's life. We all really enjoyed the 3-D movies immensly. We also went on a safari that was very neat too. But by far my kids favorite was Expedition Everest. As I mentioned my DD is a big coaster fan. She didn't inherit my fear of heights. They rode this one twice early in the morning before the line was too long.

Expedition Everest

The flip flop story... I just had to share with you. Christina wore the wrong flip flops to Disney. (lesson learned) She knew we had planned to go see the night parade at Disney on Friday night and fireworks but when we went to dinner she slipped them on thinking she would change and forgot to before we got on the bus. Fast forward a few hours and her little scab had started to come off. Before we know it she is bleeding and we are in the thick of an after parade crowd where there were so many people walking you feel like you're swimming in a big sea of fish. My DH finally picks her up and people begin to get out of our way a little bit when they see she is hurt. I think oh, no the bandaids I had so carefully packed and thought about were in the backpack in the room. I hadn't taken it this one time. Darn!!! My dh then proceeds to take off his sock and make cushion for her. We find a popcorn stand that has napkins so we can stop the bleeding. I guess you could say this made it memorable.



The fireworks were gorgeous. The parade was magical. The crowds were not fun. I would recommend trying to see them from your hotel room at Disney because the bus driver mentioned this on our standing room only bus after we were on our way back, darn!











The castle changed colors and I took video of most of the the night time events because my camera just couldn't capture it all. It was a wonderful night despite everything.



When we got home from Disney my DH had a birthday the next day. He was lucky enough to be born on the 20th of July in 1969. My DD and I hung up a sign that said Honk, Jeff is 40 today! It was so much fun. He opened 40 tootsie rolls, 20 $2 dollar bills, 40 mints, 40 water balloons etc. The kids helped me decorate the house. We made his favorite dinner and the kids put on a show with our guitar hero. It was so cute they practiced his favorite songs all day.

my kids rock out

his homemade cake with dark chocolate frosting, we almost burned down the kitchen LOL!

Wow, Sorry this was a long post. I'll be back soon with some sunflower and crow things.

Have a great weekend,



Carey

Disney part 2

Good morning blogging friends! My pictures are a little out of order here. Blogger has been giving me fits. Here is the 2nd part of our day at Universal Studios. My DH and my DD rode the incredible Hulk my DS still too small. I'm not a coaster person so we didn't go but she really loved that.
This is the 2nd of the two parks. This one has more rides, Dr. Seuss land and make believe things and roller coasters. We didn't get as much time here due to the Island breezes (otherwise known as Rain in FL). All of the outdoor rides closed due to lightening.

Here we are getting ready for the Jaws ride.

Some really cool old cars in front of Mel's diner.

Back to the Future car

Me in front of one of my favorite stores, Macy's.

Christina poses in the gift shop after the ride Twister.

A glimpse down the street of Universal it all looks like movie sets and mostly fake store fronts and cities. Some of them are real restaurants and gift stores. My DS was very frightened by Twister ride. It was based on the movie and you were made to feel like you were on the set and it really rains on you and the wind blows there is even a fire. He hated all the very realistic rides. The 3-D movies were all over here and they were a lot of fun especially when you got to go into the A/C.


I still wish we'd gone to Sea World but maybe next time if I can convince my DH to go back. We kinda looked at this vacation as a once in a lifetime trip. I do think our kids were at the right ages. They are 7 and 9. My son wouldn't have lasted quite as long a few years ago. Many people have asked me that since we returned home. I don't think the magic of Disney can be stopped at any age. At some point you fall for it no matter what age you really are. I have been lucky enough to go when I was 5, 10 and 16 before. There's nothing like that first time you see the castle. My kids weren't quite as thrilled as I thought they would be but I caught my daughter looking at all the princesses, waving to them and asking if I got their pictures.


Hope you have a wonderful day! I'll be back with a few more pics of the rest of our trip and some photos of the house. I can't wait for Fall so I'm going to start the transition a little bit by putting some of my Americana away and getting out some more sunflowers and crows.

Carey

Disney!

We are finally back from our trip. All of us are tired, sun burned and just plumb done with traveling. LOL! It was wonderful though. The kids really had a great time. It was overwhelming the amount of stuff to do at Disney. Since my DH is in the Air Force we stayed at Shades of Green which is on Disney property. We had a very nice room. We opted for the dining option which saved us money overall. We got breakfast and dinner and used it everyday except for one evening. I had to get some seafood.

Join me as I take you on a journey to Disney!


Day 1 St. Augustine Beach

First we went to the beach. I chose one at random, St. Augustine. The beach was very pretty and white. This was my DH and kids first time ever to be in Florida. My kids had never seen the beach so I couldn't wait to show them.

Christina's first taste of salty sea water.

Disney Day 2 Epcot

We chose to eat German due to our heritage. It wasn't my cup of tea but it was cool inside.The kids under the big golf ball at Epcot. Spaceship Earth was one of our favorite rides that day. We also liked Test track, my son's favorite. The other one was Mission Space it makes you feel like go on a trip to Mars. We all had jobs commander, pilot etc. and we took everything seriously. It was so cool. In the beginning you are sitting on a launch pad and looking at nothing but sky. I have a serious fear of heights and it was very realistic. We survived and landed on Mars. Christina hated the mouse ears, she went back and forth on getting them and wearing them. Then I think she saw others wearing them and lots of adults too. She is at that in between age. You may notice the new glasses. My DH was very near sighted. He had surgery and although he calls her my little clone she has picked up his genes for eyes. We got her glasses just before we left and I was happy she could see everything at Disney. I tell her she is beautiful no matter what she has on her face.

We went to Hollywood Studios later that night and it was really neat. The kids talked me into the Hollywood Tower of Terror and it was scary they drop you at random and you see the outside as the doors open and close to show you how high you are up in the air.

The parade at the Magic Kingdom Day 2

The tower of terror at night! eeww!!! very scary I screamed so much I was hoarse. I'll be back with more pictures. I need to go take my dog for a walk, she desperately needs one, LOL! My DH turns 40 today so I also need to bake him a cake and make some plans.

Have a great day!

Carey

Disney Here We Come!

Well ladies check back with me next week we're off to Disney! I just thought I would let you all know that I haven't disappeared. I'll be offline but I'll be thinking of you all!

Take care,

Carey