Hello August

Our last week of July was a lot of fun. I do love August, my birthday month, but I am so not ready for summer to end! This past week, we can cross a couple of things off of our summer bucket list: we went blueberry picking, Nolan went to his first VBS, and we did a day trip to Pittsburgh. Here are some of those photos!

Building Thor at Lowe's. We now have 4 of the 6 superheroes of the summer :)  Ephraim's happy face here cracks me up.

We chose a super hot morning for blueberry picking, but it was the exact right time of the season - there were plenty of beautiful, ripe berries!

Similar to when we went strawberry picking, Ephraim worked hard at getting the berries while Nolan picked a few and was done. Haha.

 They sell for $1.50 a pound, so we got five pounds for only $7.50.

 I flash-froze most of them, so we'll be able to make blueberry muffins and blueberry zucchini bread for months to come!

Nolan went to a big church in our community for his first Vacation Bible School. They did "Cave Quest", and their decorations were awesome. I was a little bummed that he was put in the 3-4 year old group when he turns 5 in six weeks. Almost all of his friends were in the older group. Oh well! He seemed to have a lot of fun, and he came home with sweet messages about Jesus.

Ephraim loved dropping Nolan off, having Mommy to himself for a few hours, and then going back to pick Nolan up!

After I had my miscarriage at the end of February, my friend Hannah sent me this sweet care package. The little blue pot on the left was for growing Forget-Me-Nots. I planted the seeds right away and they grew into a tiny little plant on my windowsill. Once I transferred it into the garden, it didn't do very well and I was sure it wasn't going to get any blossoms. Fast forward three months later, and I have this beautiful little bush of Forget-Me-Nots! It's so special to me that now I'm 18 weeks pregnant!

All the boys want to do these days is play with sand and water outside!

Ephraim turned 2 and a half on Thursday! He has been learning so many new words and phrases these past few months (my favorite is "Have Mercy!") He still loves to sleep full nights and long naps in the afternoon (Yay!) Two has made him a little feisty. On Sunday, he threw an hour long fit! But overall, this little boy is the biggest blue-eyed sweetheart I know!

Met a new friend the other night. He apparently likes tortilla chips.

 

On Saturday, we trekked to Pittsburgh. The weather wasn't bad on the way there, but we had a huge downpour around lunchtime. A friend of mine on IG recommended this little French bakery for their delicious macarons. I knew I had to find the store and give them a try :)

 

 Just as pretty and tasty as I hoped!

We ate lunch at Chick-Fil-A with Steve's brother Josh who lives in Pittsburgh. Then we braved IKEA on a Saturday afternoon.

The boys thought it was a giant playground. And I got to pick up a few odds and ends for our house :)

My cousin Dayna and her family met us there, and unfortunately this was the only photo I got of them with us!

Before heading home, we grabbed dinner at one of our favorites, Jimmy John's.

Takes after his dad with his love of bread, cookies, and pastries.

We brought the macarons home, and the boys were super excited about all the brightly colored cookies. They were gone in no time. My favorites were the chocolate, the raspberry, and the lemon.

Back to playing in the sand and water! 

So, hello August. We've got some big plans for you! :)