By Gabrielle.
A new Olive Us episode just went live! That always makes for a happy day at our house. Little June likes nothing better than to climb into our bed as soon as she wakes up, then snuggle in with Mom and Dad and watch Olive Us episodes on repeat. : )
In this new episode, you can follow along as the children go on a picnic in the mountains. We filmed it at Kotter Trail in Mendon, Utah when we were there in July. Being in the mountains really is one of my favorite things in the world!
Have you ever spent time in the mountains? There’s nothing quite like it.
All of your kids are just darling, but little June takes the cake with that little flower crown on her head.
Oh June…she is the dearest little thing. At then end, when she looks back…sigh
Beautiful! Makes me want to have four more children. :) We are getting ready to take our two girls to the mountains of Stowe, Vermont next week. I can NOT wait.
Vermont! I’ll bet it’s especially gorgeous right this minute. Those colors!
That one made me cry.
It captured exactly how I felt hanging outside with my siblings when we were little. And, how I still feel now when we are all together.
It makes me teary too. Happy teary.
Gah, made me tear up too! Your kids are so beautiful. Loved it.
This is my favorite one yet! Beautiful.
Oh this is my favorite! The music is beautiful, and that little June…so precious. I love seeing Big Sisters doing their job so gracefully. And big brother with little brother- so sweet!
Wow. SO beautiful! You have the cutest family! Every time I see them I think if we lived close how much fun we’d have hanging out with you guys. :) I can tell you are amazing parents, and your kids look compassionate, fun, and smart. Tell them great job!
Hi Gabrielle! The mountains are in rare form this time of year. Here’s what it looks like in Colorado right now: http://dssuggestion.blogspot.com/2012/09/get-outside.html
It’s amazing! Sending you lots of cool fall breezes from your ole’ home state! xoxo
This episode is my favorite? Not only because of the theme (pique-nique – oh lala), or little sweet June being the star in this one, but because of the message transmitted to me. I love what you are doing (intentionally or no), teaching your children and all the parents and their children out there that young ones nowadays can have fun even without a toy, an electronic machine, a mobile phone, an i-pad, fancy dolls, or high – tech and super designed playgrounds. You are telling me there is hope in finding joy in simple things again, even amongst temptations, just in nature and its benefits, simply enjoying each others’ company. If I ever doubted in the purpose of these series or simply didn’t quite get the idea of putting your children into such a process of being filmed, I feel ashamed and I totally get it now. You are an inspiring family! (I never doubted in this one :P)
Oh Lisa! What a wonderful comment to read. Thank you so much for the kind words. I keep rereading them. You absolutely made my day.
I die!! June is so precious! They all seem so sweet!
Does Maude ever get that she looks like a young Zoeey Deschanel?? Because she totally does!
She’s heard that a few times and she always grins! I’ll make sure she reads your comment. : )
Next episode I am totally going to have to record Ivy’s commentary as we watched. “Whoa that boy jumped over the RIVER!” and “I *think* they’re having a picnic” and so much more. Precious!
Steph
I would adore watching your children watch Olive Us episodes. I would get such a kick out their reactions!
I still can’t see the actual video links. There’s just a big blank whiteness where it’s supposed to be. Same on the Olive Us website. And I can’t figure out why. :/
Do you happen to have a browser add-on that disables Flash apps from starting automatically? I do, and I see all whiteness where the video would be whenever there’s a Vimeo link (YouTube shows up a big gray square). If I click on the big white area, the video player appears, and when I click again, it starts.
Ha! I signed up for Vimeo and now I can see them! Thanks so much!
Sorry for any frustration, Megan! Here is a link to the Olive Us Vimeo page for anyone else who might be having trouble:
http://vimeo.com/oliveus
Favorite one yet. It was perfect. :)
Agree with all comments above!!! YES! The mountains are like no other places on Earth! I love living in NY and can’t wait to see the trees changing this year. If you ever get a chance to splurge – bring Ben (or the whole crew) to Mohonk Mountain House – http://www.mohonk.com/- you will LOVE it!
Keep enjoying ♥
Mohonk! I love that place. When we lived in Westchester, we always hoped to splurge on at romantic getaway at Mohonk but it was always (quite a bit) out of reach. But. We would park nearby and hike all around those mountains. In the fall, there’s nothing more beautiful. Here’s an old post showing a family hike very near by:
https://designmom.com/2008/11/welcome-november/
What a sweet crew. I kind of wanted to jump in there with them and feel the breeze, bite into a peach, and braid a flower crown! I’m lucky to have wonderful memories of similar days growing up with my big family!
Amazing!! It feels very much like ‘The Sound of Music’, which was one of my all-time favourite childhood movies. This makes me want to have 6!
Loved this one – so cute with the flower garlands in the girl’s hair. Do you ever play Pooh sticks with your children. We do it often when we go on hikes. You each find a distinctive stick or leaf and drop it in the water on the upriver side of a bridge and then go over to the downriver side to see whose comes through first. Very good fun and we still play even though we are all adults now.
I didn’t know that game had a name. How fun! Our kids love that sort of thing.
The name comes from Winnie the Pooh, in the book they race sticks down a stream and call it Pooh sticks :)
So beautiful….and inspiring! Magnifique!
Your children make childhood look simple and sweet. I hope that you have many days that are truly like this!
Simplemente fastuoso!
Oh, sweet June. One of my favorites. So sweet.
Just beautiful – funny how it seems to be everyone’s favourite so far. It evokes feelings that we all want our children to experience. Your children (and their children) will surely treasure these vignettes.
“It evokes feelings that we all want our children to experience.”
I really like how you put that, Julie.
Beautiful! Seemed no one worried about stinging nettle or poison ivy! So
happy and care–free and caring! Fresh fruit picnic ! how wonderful!
SO, so beautiful!! Love it. The sweetest part has to be that flower crown on Baby June, but some of the expressions on Olive and Betty’s faces are incredibly precious, too. To have Tiger in a Jar capture your fun, gorgeous family on this common yet extraordinary day is just such a treasure! I predict this is one your entire family watches over and over for all of your lifetimes!
We absolutely love the mountains and hiking, too! (Although our hiking attire is not nearly so chic! My daughter would surely impale her toes and rip a dress if she ever wore them hiking ;)…usually we just revel in the amount of dirt & scraped knees, but this is making me think we might need to stage a short outing in cuter clothes, just for the pictures!)
Just being out in nature is endless fun and discovery for the kids…definitely some of our best family memories, too.
I love Mendon. Okay, so I love all of Cache Valley. Those mountain scenes make me homesick!
Cache Valley is a gorgeous place. We were only there for a few days this summer, and we didn’t want to leave!
That was precious. What a special day!
I’m also feeling homesick in Connecticut after leaving my Utah mountains nine years ago….wishing my kids knew the mountains like I do (instead, they feel at home on the beach, which seems weird!)
MY FAVORITE ! Romantique, bucolique, esthétique, good music,
and those kids …..TERRIFIC !
;)
This is absolutely my favorite one yet! I love the music as well!
Just lovely… Watching your kids ramble through the countryside is really making me miss my family for some reason. And you have a Grandma and Grandpa McEvoy!… We do too!
This episode made my uterus tickle for a big family.
I echo what Lisa said above. These episodes really speak to the power of relationships, the beauty of the world, goodness, and living in the moments with people you love. We get so little of that in our busy lives.
My 2 year old loves to watch them with me.
I LOVED this episode! The music was so wonderful, and the floral crowns were SO adorable! June looked especially cute in hers I thought. :)
I’m behind on these!
I feel like I’m still just saying hello to September!!
I can’t wait to gather us in a little sitting to catch up on missed episodes.
I also love just the color scheme and titles, as these posts announce your progress! Always interesting. Lovely! Bravo Blairs — keep up the great work!
So beautiful. The feelings that watching this video evokes…your beautiful children enjoying the outdoors, sweet Baby June toddling along, etc! (sigh, I got teary watching this). And I must say, I think that the way it was shot (without any dialogue) made it much more beautiful & emotional. Great work! xo
Watching this makes me so excited to start a family of my own. I come from a family of 9 kids and my husband from a family of 8. I never thought I would end up with many children but watching this makes me remember why it was so fun to have a large family, how close you can be with your siblings, and reconsider how many kids I want to have. This is a wonderful way to remember your family and the growing up stage of your children. Beautiful.
Oh this is just so lovely! Thank you for showing such a rare moment in childhood, when we just all seem to connect. It reminds me of my childhood with my 5 brothers and sisters, how enchanting certain moments could be.
You have a very beautiful and talented family…
Bises
Freida
So innocent, beautiful, free.. made me cry. You have beautiful family. Oh, that little June..
I want four more children now.