weekending : busy-style

this weekend was so different from our usual slow mornings, french toast, and pajama-clad walks around the yard and garden.  on friday we helped pack and move boxes and furniture into the new space for the art program and then spent the rest of that day hanging out at the firefighter's campground (a spot along the french broad river with a small camping area, pavilion, playground, multi-purpose building, grills, etc.) for a friend's wedding reception.  not that hanging out is very difficult, but there is quite a bit of gathering of supplies for even a one night camping trip.  Claire stayed up until 11pm (or so) that night and we all slept fairly well in the tent by the river.  in the morning she went out on the river with papa for a quick paddle in his kayak.  

about an hour after we got home from camping, we left again, this time for another friend's annual (6th annual- which impresses me) lawn games tournament.  I'd never been to a lawn games tournament.  it was awesome.  it spread out over three yards and into the (blocked off) street in front of their house.  there were varying degrees of competitiveness among the teams and it made for a pretty fantastic saturday afternoon.  I learned to play bocce ball.  I was reminded how to play root ball.  corn hole, of course.  badminton.  ping pong.  now I want a bocce ball set.  we surprised ourselves and went undefeated for our first three rounds, ending the day with 4 wins and 2 losses.  not that that's important.  we made it to the quarter finals and then lost in bocce ball. the trophy (a gold-painted doll glued to a manwich can glued to a piece of wood with dog tags engraved with previous year's winners...... pretty sweet, huh?) was not ours for the taking but we left with our heads held high and our bellies full of good food and drink.

this morning we woke up early and drove an hour to pick blueberries with friends.

the pace and needs of toddlers can have quite a strong impact on berry picking outcome, but we still made out pretty well and brought home 2 gallons.  I had aimed for 3, but I always aim unrealistically high when it comes to berry picking.  I had enough containers in the car for about 5 gallons.  you know, just in case.

most of these berries are heading to the freezer seeing as how we still have a good stash of jam from our marathon blueberry jam making session last summer.  some will be enjoyed right now, some will go into blueberry ice cream.  perhaps a pie or cobbler....  ooooooh, blueberry cobbler topped with blueberry ice cream, perhaps?

now it's sunday night and I'm listening to rain and crickets through the open window, welcoming the cool breeze and preparing myself for a big day of nothing tomorrow to balance out all of the doing of the weekend.  and I'm also trying not to stick my tongue in the gaping hole where a wisdom tooth lived until last thursday.  which makes me feel like I'm about eight years old again.


*linking up with amanda at the habit of being