A Sunny Day In A Sunflower Field

There's something about sunflowers that have always had a piece of my heart. Maybe it's those bright yellow petals or the large size that they can grow to. Whatever it is, I have always loved them. I remember my Dad had a few that grew in our garden when I was a kid and I always thought it was the coolest thing how they turned throughout the day to face the sun. I also distinctly remember there were these bright red cardinals that would land on them and eat the sunflower seeds from the center. Ever since then, I've always said that if I could have a field of sunflowers I would be one happy girl. I'm still working on that.

If you caught my instagram over the weekend then you probably saw some of our fun. I got a lot of messages asking about where we were and how the boys did. I happened to get an email on Friday about a local farm that we love visiting was having a U-Pick on wild flowers and sunflowers. It's a rare occasion for us to have a weekend where there isn't a lot going on, but last weekend happened to be that one. We just needed some family time and time to really dedicate to banging out some more projects on the Airstream. Of course a few hours to pick some sunflowers was doable and we were set to go.

The email said you needed to bring your own shears or scissors and that it was a set time of a few hours that you could come and pick. I had a basket that we have in our bathroom that holds my random toiletries that I thought would be really cute to bring and put the flowers in. I was really glad I did bring it because a lot of people were dropping the flowers they cut or having a hard time managing everything.

When we got there we went right for the sunflowers. They were so tall and beautiful and the boys were just as fascinated by all of the bees that were on them as much as how big the sunflowers were. We decided to walk down a bit to the other end because a lot of the ones in the front were looking picked over.

The great thing about Eric's height and his wingspan (I say wingspan because seriously he has pterodactyl wings) is he's able to lift the boys up and maneuver them to areas that most people can't reach. A really got in there and picked the perfect sunflower for him.

We brought the boys kiddies scissors with us but that probably wasn't the best idea. The handle ended up breaking because they weren't sharp enough to cut the stems. It was supervisor time after that for using the big scissors. 

My Mom always said that whenever you give someone flowers they need to come with kisses. The exact phrase has always been, flowers always come with kisses. That's always stuck with me and something she's passed onto the boys. Now whenever they give me flowers they know they always come with kisses. 

I wanted to try and get some cute bump pics in between the flowers but the wind was really starting to pick up. Before I knew it the boys were off running around and trying to touch the bees that were landing on the flowers.

Once I realized what was going on I ran after them (don't worry I didn't trip on any rocks, but it did make it difficult with them being all over the ground). I can never seem to keep up with the boys and it's getting even harder the bigger I'm getting. There might even be a small waddle going on at this point. The amazing blogger husband that I have kept snapping pics of us because he knows those random moments usually end up being the best.

I found this quote online that I really like, that says...

~I want to be sunflower, so that even on the darkest days I will stand tall and follow the sunlight~

Here's to standing tall and looking towards the sun. 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends! I hope everyone had a great week. This week seemed to go by in the blink of an eye for us which was much different than last week. We packed in a lot of fun and I can't stress enough about how much we love us some summer time. Thankfully it hasn't really been humid here yet, so it's been comfortable. I think that's all supposed to change this weekend though. 

Here's a look at some of my favorites from the week...

1. State fair: we've been going to the state fair for the past three years now and it's always such a good time. You can read some of our past trips here and here. We decided to go on the night that kids can go free which we thought at first would be a mad house. Much to our surprise it wasn't, and the boys didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes to get on the rides. We did our traditional stops of getting food, watching the divers show, and catching the pig races. I picked that pig number four would win and both times they raced (two different sets of pigs) number four won! I should have stopped and played the lottery. If you caught my insta stories @beautifully_candid (I'm usually sharing something over there) than you might have seen the races in action and our fun spinning around on the ferris wheel. We just can't get enough of these fun summer nights.

2. Pool fun: we got to the spend the weekend down at my dad's and relax in his nice in-ground pool. He found a snake swimming around in there (eww) and of course A and little nugget adopted him as their pet. Thankfully that only lasted the weekend because there was no way that thing was coming home with me. They kept trying to sneak up on me while I was laying out to try and have the snake touch my leg or my arm. They sure got a kick out of me squealing and saying to get it away from me! You guys, they're still only four and two, I'm going to need all the prayers I can get with three boys coming my way.

3. Garden success: if you remember last year and the year before, our garden was a complete flop. We had a groundhog busting through the fence and having a feast on the little vegetation we had growing. Well this year we reinforced the fence with chicken wire and took some tips from my dad to put coffee grounds and pine needles in the soil and around the plants to help with the soil ph balance. It totally worked and we have been enjoyed pees all week and have some zucchinis, green beans, and carrots on the way. Our tomato plants are still questionable, but we'll see if they can make a comeback. Regardless, this is a huge step for us from the years before, and thankfully that groundhog seems to be MIA. Maybe he needed to find another yard that gave him access to food? Peace out, buddy.

4. Blueberry picking: speaking of gardens, ours is only filled with vegetables so we love visiting local farms to pick our own fruit. Since we live in the garden state, we do see that this time of year it really does live up to its name. We have some famous things that we're known for, such as tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries (only four other states grow them), sweet white corn, and peaches (Georgia still being top for that).  It's nice to have a lot of options to get fresh fruits and veggies from. We also love getting the boys out there to have some fun and learn more about how they are grown. 

5. Amalfi Coast: if you missed my post from earlier this week about traveling the Amalfi Coast you can check it out to see one of my favorite parts of our trip. All of Italy that we got to experience was unique and amazing in its own way, but there was something extra special about being by the water and seeing some of the prettiest views I have ever laid my eyes on.

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I'll be back next week to share more about our time in Rome and then it's a week at the beach for us. Here's where you can find me linking for all the link up fun.