Summer Fun

Summer 2013 has been jam packed and almost 2 weeks into August, its showing no signs of slowing down.  Before you know it the temperatures will start to drop, weekends will be filled with football and we'll welcome back "Soup Sundays" in the Ritchie house.  And while I'm excited about all of those things, I'm trying to make the most of what's left of our summer.

What have we been up to?

First and foremost....we became blackberry farmers (translation, we discovered that we have a HUGE blackberry bush on our property!)  These are the 1st four berries that I picked...I couldn't wait for them to fully ripen!  Since those 4 berries, we've picked probably (at least) 400 more.  We've shared them by the bucketful, enjoyed homemade jam and filled our freezer in preparation for lots of yummy treats.  Tonight's perfect summer meal?  BLTs, sweet corn and homemade blackberry cobbler.  MMmmmmmm! 

We've been spending lots of time outdoors soaking up the sunshine and exploring all of our new-found space.  For awhile our lawn was pretty "swampy" (new sod=swampy), but we made the most of it and Harrison discovered his love for sprinklers!

Most of the time you can find this kiddo (sans pants) playing in the dirt, chasing his puppies or relaxing in his wagon.  He makes a bee line for the back door every time he hears it open and throws a fit when its closed before he gets there!

Speaking of playing with his puppies....this might be my favorite series of pictures ever.  Our beagle, Maybe, has wised up to the fact that Harrison is more of a "tease" when it comes to fetch than he is an actual player.  He pretends like he's going to throw the ball for her, but then keeps it to himself.  Maybe's response?  Get the ball and get the heck away!  That doesn't stop Harrison though....I was dying laughing as he crawled all over the backyard trying to get it back from her!

"I'm gonna get you, Maybe!"

 So close!

 And the beagle gains some ground....

 Success!  Now that's a happy boy!

Here's to morning walks, evenings spent in the backyard, and everything in between!  Hope your summer has been as perfect as ours!