Adventures in Blueberries

Last Saturday we went the The Berry Patch to spend some time with friends, Sara, Sam, Annie and their Nana picking blueberries. Needless to say, blueberries are blue - hence a food with pigment and therefore not on the list of acceptable foods in the Kiefer diet. Ah, well - this was going to be an adventure and he was really excited about it. We looked online at the map together the night before so I'd be aware of our commute and he could see what we'd be doing.

That morning we got around and on the way out to the car, Kiefer said "we need the map, Mom!"

"It's ok, we don't need a map buddy. It's just a few turns, should be really easy for us!"

His octopus kickboard was sitting in the laundry room on the way out to the garage, so he picked it up and said "here's the map".
So, as we drove he read the "map" to me.

"K, Mama. 'Cording to the map.......you need to go left. It says.... at the row of greens, you need to stop."

And so on with the "cording to the map" instructions, all the way to the berry patch. After a quick commute, we arrived and hit the ground running to pick berries.
Kiefer was meticulous to only pick the "really dark blue ones".Here's his first berry harvest.It was an enjoyable new experience for all. The kids enjoyed some snacks afterward but Kiefer was adamant to not try the blueberries, despite Sam and Annie's blueberry eating example.
Maybe next year!
Heading home...

"That sure was fun buddy! Let's hit the road...hey, what does your map say?"

"Mama, it says 'Go Fish'."

Super Frog

I love summer mornings after a thunderstorm! You never know what will be waiting when the garage door goes up. Usually it's an army of earthworms who fled the swampland of the yard for the dry highground known as our concrete driveway. This morning, when the garage door went up, Kiefer walked out and doubled back to me quickly.

"Mommy, look what is in our gawadge! Hurry come see!"

"Aw, Kiefer! A cute little tree frog. Look how small he is."

Behind the car was a frog that had hopped in as the door came up. I stepped near him to scare him back out of the garage. Instead, he just hopped further under the car so there wasn't much I could do. After getting things loaded into the car, I looked again and he was gone...

"Mom, I saw a twee dwog one time at Grandma Theresa's house! Maybe it's the same one!"

"Wow, buddy - do you know how much hopping that little frog would have had to do to get all the way to our house?"

I backed out of the drive looking back in for the frog, praying I hadn't or wouldn't run over him. Kiefer said, "Hmmm, I think maybe he drived here from Grandma's."

"Wow, really? Well, how would that little tiny frog drive a car?"

"He just puts his fins up on the steering wheel and drives, mom!"

"Oh! Well what kind of car did he drive down here?"

"Um, I think he drived Grandma's car. He put his little hoppy things right up on the steering wheel and drived mommy."

"Ok. Because that sure would have taken him a long time to hop here..."

"Um, I think it would just take one hop. One great big hop! He would go waaaaaayyy up in the sky and turn into a bird. Then he would land here and be a dwog again."

So, Grandma... the tree frog you and Kiefer saw the last time he was there may have stolen your car last night and "drived" to Olathe. I didn't notice your car anywhere near our house, so if you still have it then that means we're going with the "hop - turn into a bird - land and be a frog again" theory. It really was a toss up.