Archery and Blackberry Picking

Today we went out to the chapel at the fairgrounds and cleaned (or mostly Trace did--he's one hard worker!), and prior to that we made bows and arrows, and picked blackberries with Becky and Tracie.

I think I just listed all of that in reverse order. Let's try again: so the kids and I got up this morning, had leftover homemade pizza for breakfast, and then checked in with Aunt Becky, who was going to meet Mike, our friend, and deliveryman extraordinaire, after his archery tournament. I tried to explain to Jackson and Caroline what archery was, only to end up on YouTube, looking up videos of longbows so that Jack would understand.

In the meantime Trace got home from working his coffees, and he and I made bows and arrows for both kids. They loved them, although it was more complicated to their minds than I would have expected. Then the kids and I went to meet Becky and Tracie and pick blackberries, the wild kind, while Trace headed out to the fairgrounds to clean up before the fair starts on Wednesday (which is like running a third store for us, and always a little crazy, but also lots of fun, both for the kids and for Trace and I. There are lots of animals, which is the best part for the kids, and all the other county exhibits, especially the photography, the art, and the quilts, are my favorites. We're looking forward to it. At least I am, but maybe not Trace, who opens the coffee shop at 6 every morning and closes the fair at 11 or midnight every night for five days). It's a busy week. We're also finishing Jackson's swim lessons this week, so that should be another dimension of the busy-ness.

Back to today, here are three photos of our morning archery:

Caroline and Jackson. Trace demonstrating. Jackson trying to figure out how to do it himself.

Jack berry-picking. It was serious work. Jack and Tracie taking a break in the shade.

Caroline and Becky checking out a tree that was just Caroline's size. Caroline is giving her "camera smile," which she saves for those who say: "smile!"Caroline with all the berries that Becky and Tracie picked. Caroline's bucket, on the other hand, reminded me of the book "Blueberries for Sal," where the bucket is perpetually empty since the little girl keeps eating them. Hers is the empty easter basket in the background, while the other two bowls (both overflowing) are Becky's and Tracie's. Becky is going to make jam with her berries, so Jack is convinced that we should do the same thing, although we don't have nearly as many berries, since so many got eaten! I'm considering jam tomorrow, and I have a simple recipe (not even any pectin: I mean really simple), but we also have work, swim lessons, and Monday Night Dinner going on tomorrow, so we'll see if it actually happens or if we just eat all our berries. Either way, I know it will be delicious. Don't you just love summer food?