mother's day and the national arboretum

Mother's Day started off with sleeping in, flowers, and chocolate-stuffed french toast, hashbrowns, and eggs, courtesy of Ben. Then he suggested the National Arboretum for a morning walk. We walked around Fern Valley which was green and lush and beautiful and full of flowering plants. We spotted a snake and a lot of frogs. We also walked through the flowering dogwood collection and caught the trees at their peak bloom. Amelia and Elsa kept presenting me with flower/plant bouquets they assembled with materials found on the ground.

Throughout the rest of the day I received numerous homemade cards and pictures from Amelia and Elsa. They did a great job singing the Mother's Day songs in church. Ben took care of all the meals and the dishes. The day ended with a test fire in our new fire pit. And s'mores!

Ben tried, unsuccessfully, to catch a frog for the kids.

One of the many bouquets I received.

the fate of the strawberries.

I was surprised how quickly our 10 pounds of strawberries disappeared. I made two batches of freezer jam, strawberry shortcake, and strawberry salsa. And we ate the rest.

Strawberry salsa: strawberries, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt. So delicious.

The jam made a convenient gift for Teacher Appreciation Week.

 More of my favorite strawberry recipes can be found here, including my favorite biscuit recipe for strawberry shortcake.

strawberry picking.

Last Monday afternoon we gathered a few friends together and went to Shlagel Farms in Maryland to pick strawberries. The strawberries were delicious and plentiful. It was a perfect overcast day with comfortably cool temperatures. And we were pretty much the only people around. Oliver was fairly easily contained within the long rows, until he discovered some large mud puddles in the distance. He was in heaven devouring strawberries as fast as he could pick them. His cheeks were always bulging, strawberry juice dripping down his chin, and a green stem sticking out of his mouth. Amelia picked most of our 10 pound loot. 

Got through the mud before I could catch him.