FAMILY NIGHT -- Asparagus and Ticks!

Last night, we decided to venture out on a search for asparagus. It grows wild near our house, and over the past couple of years we've been able to find some "hot spots" and pick some. We were only able to get enough for one meal last night, but as always, our adventures are a fun time to bond and laugh together.

Before we even left the house, I had my socks pulled up over top of my jeans, and no, I was NOT trying to make a fashion statement. It's tick season out here, and I have this horrible thing with ticks. Unfortunately, I'm trying ever so desperately to not pass this fettish on to my kids, so I'm learning to keep my fears and ee-bee-jee-bees of them to myself. (How's that for a word?? Guarantee I didn't spell it right....) The first place we stopped to pick asparagus, we found about ten -- our total for the night. No ticks! Our second stop, which is usually our gold mine for asparagus, we found none, and picked off about 5 ticks before we got in the van. When we got home, everyone stripped down for a tick check. Evan had 2 more, and Myah had one crawling on her T-shirt. Honestly, I didn't do so bad with it this year. None were stuck, and I didn't find any crawling in the sheets this morning.

On our walks, we observed a dragonfly, a beaver, a sandhill crane, ducks, pheasants, dead trees killed by lightening and various song birds. Family night turned into a science lesson. (I don't know how many questions Evan answered about ticks!) We all had a great time. We even crammed together to take this photo to remember the experience. I told Evan I want to try to take a family photo once a month, along with a picture of the two of us. We normally take so many of the kids that we get left out, and I want to have pictures of us as well.

Looking forward to eating our asparagus for dinner....even if it is less work to buy it at the grocery store!