Two more things checked off our list!  U-pick berries and Schweitzer Resort.  On Friday I took the kids to pick blueberries at a place just 3 miles from our house.  We are still waiting on the raspberries and blackberries to ripen.  There is a fruit stand down the road from our house that just opened with cherries, apricots, and peaches.  The picked while ripe and juicy fresh off the tree variety, not the hard as a rock grocery store kind.  I am in heaven!  I have always wanted to live somewhere with easy access to all this good stuff, and its that much more fun when you can pick it yourself!  We look forward to planting what we can when we get our yard.  For now, I plan to use lots of berries for smoothies, muffins, pancakes, yogurt, pies, yummy snacks, and freezing the excess for the rest of the year.

 The kids were really into it.  They just needed a little training to learn how to pick only the big dark and ripe berries.

 It was fun and we will probably be back as soon as tomorrow with some new church friends.  Speaking of church friends, I love how you can move just about anywhere, without knowing anyone, and almost automatically have a built-in network of friends and a ward family.  We've been here for 3 Sundays and have already been invited to dinner the last 2 of them.  One of the perks of being LDS.  Life is good. 

 After berry picking we headed to the fruit stand where a lady there told us about a u-pick strawberry field.  We were excited because I couldn't find one on my internet search.  So we went on this wild goose (strawberry) chase, and didn't find it.  She wasn't positive it was still open, or even existed, but it was worth a shot and fun to explore our new land.  We did however find a bunch of wild raspberries growing along the road.  I pulled over and asked Owen to go pick 3, one for each of us to taste.  He retrieved a handful of ripe but withery and sour raspberries.  I guess wild raspberries aren't the big, tender juicy ones that are cultivated.

On Saturday we decided to take the 15 minute drive up the mountain to Schweitzer Mountain Resort.  It is such a beautiful place, and the pictures don't do it justice.  We bought a day pass chairlift ride and went up and down the mountain 3 times.  At first I thought we had wasted the money because Teslyn was so terrified, she didn't want to get back on after the first ride.  We took a lunch break then convinced her to do it again.  She loved it, and was begging to go the third time.

Going up!  We spotted some deer and what we think were prairie dogs.  

 Here is a family shot on top of the mountain with an awesome view of Sandpoint, Ponderay and Lake Pend Oreille below.

 They even had a few little random games for people to play up on top.

Nick played with the kids while I enjoyed the view and rested my large belly.  31 weeks now!

We went exploring along the top of the mountain for a while, soaking in all the beauty that surrounded us.  Here Nick and Owen are being a bit leery of the double black diamond slope.

Teslyn added to her rock and plant collection.

Here is Nick pointing out the amazing view.  From the top of this mountain you can see 3 states and another country!  Idaho, Montana, Washington and Canada.  So many mountain peaks that seem to go on forever.  

 Heading back down the lift, you can see the resort below. 

 I seriously couldn't get enough pictures.  This one has a mountain biker if you look closely.  There were tons of hikers and mountain bikers.  With this big belly of mine, we had to settle for the smooth chair lift ride.

Here is Teslyn during our picnic lunch break.  It was considerably cooler up the mountain.  Being from Utah and going up the mountains there often, you would think we would have anticipated the temperature change.  We wished we had sweaters a couple times, so we spent most time in the warm sunshine.  I felt great most of the time, because I am such a hot body when I am pregnant.  The mountain air was so cool and refreshing.

The resort had some fun stuff for the kids, including a little playground swing set, giant checker and chess boards, gold panning, and this photo op. 

We spent most of the day up there, and can't wait to bring visitors!  Come on up, family and friends!  Oh, and we even spotted a little black bear running across the road as we were leaving the resort.  Safely in our car.  So exciting!