My aunt and uncle took a trip up to see my family in South Carolina last week and were kind enough to let Collin and I tag along. Since my parents live out in the country we had quite an adventure...
My family live in a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom trailer but with 5 adults, 3 teenagers, 2 children and one toddler in the house it pretty much meant you slept wherever you could.
Above: Tori and my cousin Angie curl up under the dining room table for a nap because the boys were playing video games on their beds (the Living room couches)
Below: My youngest brother Logan wakes up after a long night of partying but only makes it to the Family room before he passes out again on the floor.
My mom has three gardens and kept us busy from about sunup to sundown everyday watering and harvesting her vegetables. So on those rare occasions of "downtime" we took full advantage of them.
Above: Collin helps Aunt Patti choose the best Avon products.Below: Collin found a mini lantern just his size and couldn't get enough of it. He toted that thing all over the place. Oh yeah, did I mention he's walking now!?!
Collin also discovered watermelon and Cantaloupe this trip. He ate and ate and ate until we thought he was going to explode. He sure did have several wet diapers that day, but he was one happy baby...I mean Toddler.
And of course we had to try out my parents new ice cream churn. All of our mouths were watering for the 1 1/2 that it churned. After being out in the sun in over 100 degree weather this treat was definitely well anticipated. And I'm sure it would have been delicious if we would have remembered to add the sugar :)
However, just like "all work and no play make Jack a dull boy" all play and no work, means we don't get to eat all the yummy food so,...back to work! It's potato plowing time!
My moms neighbors Billy and Theresa brought their tractor up and plowed the field for us. After it was plowed we walked behind the tractor picking up the upturned potatoes.
Above: My uncle Dan looks for stray taters. I think he's really taking to the country life since he isn't wearing shoes.
It was hot and sweaty work but a lot of fun!
Where's the baby?Below from left to right: Aunt Tori, Collin and cousin Angie.
Once we harvested mom's veggies from her garden it was time to can.Below: mixing the vegetables for canned soup!
Sauerkraut!
So many cucumbers! What should we do with them?
We skinned em', scooped out the center and then chopped them up to make...
Cinnamon Cucumber rings,
And pickles.
We were closely watched by our three supervisors Collin, Billy, and Sam.
After we canned everything it was time to... yep, you guessed it. Get back to the garden. It's watering time!
This is only one of my mom's three gardens.
I put my shoes beside the head of cabbage to show how big the head is!
Sam even came to help. Sam is 3 and is pretty much the neighborhood child. Such a cutie. And yes, those are his boxers. At least he was wearing shoes that day! :)
And of course Collin continues to supervise from his favorite spot.
Sniper Dan checking out his new gun and scope.
A better view of the back porch my dad and brothers built.
And a sneak peak at the storage barn aka "Man Cave" if the boys get their way. They've run water and internet out to it so you can't tell me they don't have plans.
Collin found chalk and seemed to know exactly what to do with it. I think I'm gonna have to keep my pens out of reach when we get home.
Collin loved hanging out with "uncle Billy" especially when he took him outside to see the chickens.
He also loves golf cart rides. Pretty much if it's outside, Collin LOVES it. He would watch and as soon as it looked like someone was headed to the door he would reach for them and start whining until they took pity on him and took him with them.
It was VERY hard to keep him inside but our two secret weapons were...being entertained by Austin and Logan and,
playing with Peaches!I think Peaches enjoyed it just as much because when Collin was around it pretty much meant free food :)
(Michael will die when he sees this picture ;)
We've been working on sharing but I'm not sure Uncle Dan is too happy to be the recipient.
Nor will he be to happy with the fact that we caught hum snuggling with Sponge Bob :)
I came home with a few more pounds than I had when I left. I had worked so hard I couldn't figure out why until I started looking back at all the pictures I took. I think we ate as much as we worked!
And speaking of eating, can you say "pizza party"!?
And ice cream cake to celebrate my cousin Austin's 11th birthday!
I think I enjoyed this birthday present just as much as Austin. Now if I can just convince Michael that a Wii is a necessity and not a want...
And talk about spoiled rotten. While we were there Aunt Tori bought Collin a ball pool and a bouncing turtle that plays music. It's a good thing he's cute or we might not be able to stand the stench ;)
And Grandma and Grandpa Peeler bought Collin his first pair of shoes!
But I regress, back to work!This time to weed the peanuts! My they were tasty when they were boiled.
Above: Is my mom, Sam, me and my Aunt Patti. Don't my mom and Aunt look like twins? Almost ;)
My dad had several conference calls he had to do while we were there and Collin liked to "help" with his work. It was all good until Collin cut the computer off on grandpa...oops Did I mention it's a good thing he's cute?
We were able to attend Church with my family while we were there and I was able to see a lot of people I knew, but Collin was not very good. My brother Bryce was just a little to happy about taking Collin out during Sacrament meeting.
And I almost forgot about the South Carolina Peach Festival!
It was Collin's first parade and I think he liked it.
Collin says he now wants to upgrade his push car for a cooler model like this one.
When I was a teenager some distant relatives of ours owned the Peeler dairy. It was cool to be able to go to the store and purchase milk with my last name on it. They've since sold the dairy but the Peeler Cow is still running strong.
Collin's first sucker. Once he had finished he looked at the stick, threw it to the ground and then reached for another.
We definitely worked hard but we had so much fun. We can't wait to go back to the "Peeler Farm" especially when mom gets that lamb or goat she wants to help her mow the grass :)
And Collin did great on the 9 hr. drive! He pretty much slept all the way there and back. I was so proud of him!
The End!
