Blueberry Picking

I saw an article in the paper in July about local blueberry picking and thought, "Lincoln LOVES blueberries!" So 4 mamas and 4 babies drove out to Pungo and checked it out a few days later.

There were blackberries too which were much easier for L to pick.

By the time we got to blueberries, the kiddos were a sticky mess (mostly Kai) and had full bellies! Wear purple or blue shirts if you go next summer.

Chivalry is not dead. 

Lincoln loved the wagons and the golf cart most of all, not surprised. He's obsessed with anything with wheels and shouts, "Tuk!" from the backseat of the car at every truck or van or large vehicle we see these days.

We came home with $5 worth of really delicious blueberries and blackberries. At $1.95 a pound, you can do the math. Lincoln was not so helpful when it came to picking the berries, but super helpful when it came to emptying the buckets.

We had some sweaty, sticky kiddos and a few nasty diapers in the coming days, but it was a success! I'm excited for apples and pumpkins in a few months!

Family Fun

I'm so behind in posting! Doesn't seem to be enough time in the day and I rarely want to sit at the computer after a day at work! Luckily I can blog from my phone at work! :)

A few weekends ago, Glenn ran his second half marathon and I figured since Lincoln and I would be there to cheer him on, we might as well run too! Not the half though, we ran the 5k. Glenn was running with his friend Paul and I ran with his wife. Their daughter is 5 days younger than Lincoln.

It was a fun morning and I ran a PR of 29:32 according to my phone, 30:00 according to the race. I think I'd run another race but this time when they say strollers in the back, I'd still get in front of the people that look like they are going to walk! The first half mile was like an obstacle course of canes and old people! So frustrating!

Rollerskating Party

 

 When we got to the rollerskating rink, we were behind a few 7 year olds who were attending their friend's birthday party. Gift bag and tissue paper in tow.

We were doing the same. Except Cara is 32. And awesome.

No skates in Lincoln's size.

But they did in Isabel's size!

I don't think I have been rollerskating since I was 12 or so, but you don't forget it! The only thing that could have made it better was if the Skate Dojo served beer. They should work on that. It was a fun Saturday afternoon. I didn't even know that skating rinks still existed!

Wine Fest 2013

Last year I was pregnant at wine fest, but didn't know it yet. This year Gizelle was big and pregnant, she knew it. It wasn't as warm and sunny as last year, but that was probably better since we brought Lincoln too. We just back that stroller right up to the tasting tables. Why not?

Mr. and Mrs. Unibomber joined us. :) Love the Oeschleins!

 Lincoln as a big hit with the ladies. While I was in the restroom, groups of ladies would swarm Glenn, so I'm told. He didn't seem too upset by it.

 It was a fun day enjoying Norfolk and our friends!

Peanut Fest

Glenn's mom is originally from the next town over so when he was a kid, he came to visit often. An annual stop was the Suffolk Peanut Festival.

We decided to make a visit last weekend to eat some peanuts, tour some Winnebagos and check out the peanut butter carving contest. It was a beautiful day to relax and enjoy all the rednecks. Well, and be one too! If only I wasn't pregnant, we could have gone on the monster truck ride!

Drag Yourself to Brunch

I haven't uploaded pictures to my computer in forever. I have over a hundred from events over the last month or so, but let's start with the most outrageous. A few girlfriends and I went to a lovely Sunday brunch out near the beach. We had a few mimosas, some delicious food and enjoyed the show. Clearly, the drag show.

Four dancers in lovely homemade costumes entertained us for several hours with the 80s and 90s best hits.

Cara offering up a few tips. She had one of the best seats in the house!

The MC even posed for a few pictures with us.

We laughed most of the time and felt bad for the few guys that braved the show. When we left in the bright afternoon sunlight we decided that an evening show with a few more drinks would be even better. Luckly, Croc's Bistro has a show on Saturday nights, once a month. 

We might have to make a girls' night out in the future and then hits the beach bars!

FujiQ Highlands

I figured that flying through the air at unnatural speeds sounded just about American to me, so what better way to spend our Independence Day! A few friends and myself headed to FujiQ Highlands to ride their famous 'jetcoasters'. That's Japanese for rollercoaster, btw. An appropriate name for an amusement part though, right? Fuji was staring down at us all day! What a beautiful backdrop!

Our first ride was Dondonpa and it locked and loaded you like a gun and shot you out at 4.25 Gs. That's 108 mph in 1.8 seconds. Amazing. We rode it twice. 

The next uber famous ride was Fujiyama, a former world record holder for the tallest jetcoaster at 79 m. The ride was also over 3 minutes long- that's an eternity in rollercoaster world I think.

A quick stop for lunch. What's that you have, Mike? Pizza with a hot dog on it? That's like a twofer in America world. Good work showing your patriotism.

What did Lauren I get? Well we guessed and pushed random buttons on the vending machine ordering system. Green ice with condensed milk on top? Why not?! Lauren got the pink version. And for some reason the J's say they like "low sweet" desserts? What? You just put straight sweetened condensed milk on top of a snowcone. My teeth still hurt.

I don't have any good pictures of the last most awesome rollercoaster- Eejanaika (or something like that). You ride backwards with your feet hanging and your chair rotates 360 degrees. You are flipping and spinning and you can't even see what is coming next since you are going backwards. I was cursing, laughing and screaming through the entire 2 minutes. This ride is also a world record holder. Their sign said: The roller coaster with the greatest number of inversions is the 4th Dimension Coaster at FujiQ Highland in Japan. Riders turn upside down a total of 14 ties during each 1,153 m (3,782 ft) run. The ride opens to the public in July 2006. Throughout the ride, I felt like my harness was going to bust apart because my body was being flung in a million different directions. It was fantastic. I want to ride it again and again just so I can figure out what even happened!

Wordless Wednesday: FujiQ Highlands

 

Osaka: Day 3

We met Hillary for breakfast, and enjoyed exploring the city until lunch time where Hillary introduced us to El Pancho and their 50% off Happy Hour from 12-5 pm. Umm...yes please. What would have been a 5200 yen pitcher was only 2600 yen! Yes please!

Since I've returned and talked to my students about Osaka, they have all asked me, "What did you eat?" "Did you try takoyaki? okinomiyaki?"

"Umm...sorry to say, we ate a lot of American food!" Well, if you count tacos and pizza as American.

We were hoping to catch a Tigers baseball game in Osaka, but unfortunately, there were out of town while we were there. That didn't stop Glenn from buying a jersey though. Tiger fans are pretty hard core and several asked to take his picture since he was an American fan. Cheezu!

One of the main streets in Osaka was having a festival of some sort. I liked this dance groups hair style. Not even sure how they got that to happen!

After shopping and walking a little longer, we decided it was time to head home. We grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed to the Shinkansen (bullet train). I love these weekend trips and I am sad that they are coming to an end in Japan and with Glenn. I've already started a list of places on the east coast that I want to visit. If we go to Texas, I'll have to start another list! So many places and things to see!