our cherry tree

The first year we lived in this house, there were a ton of birds that swooped in and ate all the cherries. Last year, we didn't get very many cherries, and the birds got all but about 10. This year, we have loads and loads of cherries. We have to give credit to one of our neighbors who is a tree expert that came down and helped Dave trim our fruit trees. The birds have gotten some, but not too many. The kids have had a lot of fun, especially Audrey, climbing in the tree picking the cherries. I keep wondering why the birds haven't eaten more. I finally came to the conclusion that maybe since they don't have worms in them, the birds don't like them as much. Not enough protein.
One day last week Audrey said she REALLY wanted to open a cherry stand to sell the cherries. She begged and begged. Just before I was about to get really mad at her for pestering me so much, I thought, what would it hurt? She can sit out there at her table and I can work in the yard. So I said yes. She got it all set up, we put up some signs and the umbrella for shade. She sold quart sized bags for $2 and gallon bags for $5. She ended up selling $30 that day and $30 the next. She was so happy! Maddi and Audrey sat at the table calling out "Cherries, $2, Fresh Picked!" It was soooo cute! Kimee got up in the tree and picked more cherries while they were at the stand. The next day, we put up the ladder another notch so we could reach more cherries.
This week, we could see the cherries we didn't pick last week had turned dark. And because it rained so much, they got really big and juicy. This time, we picked and picked and brought them in for us to use. Kimee pitted a TON. Here hands were stained red for a while:) We put some bags in the freezer and then I made: cherry limeade, cherry shortbread cookies, cherry pie filling (and the cheesecake to put it on), chocolate chip cherry ice cream.

Backyard Campout & Superhero

Every summer on our Fun List is a campout in our backyard. This year we did it on Friday, Aug. 2.

The next morning, we got up early and went to Blaire's superhero party. It was a really cool experience!

new sheds

After the retaining wall was done, it was time to get ready for a new shed. The old one was so bad it was scary. When we first moved in we spent quite a bit of time de-spidering and de-wasping it. I can't even remember how many wasp nests there were from over the years, but it was a LOT and they were of varying types- mud, paper, etc.

Demolishing the shed was kinda fun. Dave started with the paneling part of the sides. The girls helped too. Once we got 3 of the sides off, the shed started to wobble quite a bit. We didn't really have a plan in mind, but it seemed the next thing to do was to just topple it over.
It missed the swing set by a couple of inches. It was so hilarious. We felt like we were in Kansas landing on the wicked witch. We got some cool pictures of the whole thing.
Then we were able to take the roof apart, and piece by piece take apart all of the 2x4s. The cool thing is that we saved many of the 2x4s to use for future building projects. We spent probably a week removing all of the nails so we could store them:)

When we started leveling out the dirt and prepping for the base of the sheds, we realized it was still a bit low. So we had to go get SEVERAL truck loads of dirt. We thought it was going to be just one, then two. But once you put it down, it spreads out quickly and you realize you need more. It was kinda scary getting the dirt. There was a family in Orem that was digging out a hill in their yard to put in a retaining wall. We had to back in, and as the Bobcat would fill the truck with dirt, you could feel the truck start sinking and it felt like it was going to roll backwards down the hill (have I mentioned that our brakes are not that good?). I was dying sitting in there. I don't remember going back with Dave more than once, it was too hard on my nerves.

Dave and I had a great time putting the sheds together. We weren't sure how long it would take, but with our teamwork, we got the first one done much faster than expected. I thought it would take us a few weeks, but we ended up getting them both done in a few evenings and a weekend. The 2nd one went up even quicker since we knew what we were doing. We joked that we should start a shed installation business together:)

Have you noticed a recurring theme in all of the pictures? This is the summer that Maddi wore nothing but her swimsuit. ALL SUMMER! It was really bad. When we went to the dentist or out to dinner, she had to put a skirt or jumper on top cause she would not change out of it. I didn't know how she was going to make it to preschool in the fall.