Edie’s at an age where she is game for anything with me. Grocery store, airport drop offs, post office lines. She’s excited to come along and be my sidekick no matter what’s on our errand list. She gets especially excited when we’re doing something special with just the two of us. Today we’re taking an outing to visit a friend’s home in Berkeley called The Farmhouse. It’s a large Victorian home that’s set up for co-living. There are 17 housemates who all work together to grow food, prepare meals and take care of the property as a kind of family (doesn’t that sound so cool? And so Berkeley!). We came prepared with our gardening tools and watering can so we could help too.

Here are some photos of our morning at The Farmhouse if you’d like to see…

We’re working with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to celebrate the new DVD release of Miracles from Heaven for this post. After having a 3rd child 3 months ago, more than ever the evenings are precious times to me to unwind and spend time as a couple. We just try to enjoy each other’s company (image that!).  We’ve been catching up on tv shows and watching a lot of movies together. Earlier this week we watched the Miracles from Heaven DVD and I thought it was such a touching story and highly recommend it for your next movie night at home with the whole family. It’s based on a true story starring Jennifer Garner about a mother whose daughter who has a rare, incurable disease. Her mother fights hard for her against all odds, and then a freak accident becomes an amazing miracle cure that inspires the whole community. It will give you chills! See the trailer here and buy it here for your next movie night in.

One thing that was really powerful to me in the movie was the strength of the mother-daughter relationship. Since Edie is still little, I sometimes take for granted our close relationship because she’s so reliant on me and Jared. But as she gets older and more independent, I know it’ll be more challenging to stay connected. So the more one on one time we can spend, the better until that age! With a new baby, I haven’t had as much alone time with Edie so little outings like this feel really special.

With a two year old, managing expectations is key. There aren’t pigs or cows at this farm but there are chickens! And lots of vegetables to pick and plant! And the plants really need some water so let’s be sure to bring the watering can. Oh, and there are some tools you’ll need to carry. Dot’s too small to come but you get to be my big helper (works every time).

The first thing we did was pick some tomatoes and kale. Edie loved picking the cherry tomatoes because they were her favorite color, orange!

I love the smell of tomatoes in the peak of summer, don’t you? We also picked an interesting type of cucumber I’d never seen before and some more greens.

Next we visited the chicken in their coop! Edie kept on called them the cockadoodledoos and tried to pet them but they scampered away (smart chickens).

We watched the hens walk up into their little house and…

Found an egg inside one had just laid!

Edie liked to help feed the chickens too, but was confused when the chicken food did not look like something edible (agreed!). We don’t have any pets so the whole process of feeding and taking care of animals was a totally foreign thing to her. It’s always fun to see her in new situations where she doesn’t quite know what to think or how to behave. She gets very quiet and very serious about her assigned tasks!

Next we helped do some planting in the back garden. They have a huge area they’re planting some type of grass so we were able to help out.

Edie loved helping dig the hole and placing the little plant inside.

But her favorite was part watering, since it’s a chore she helps do at home with our houseplants.

At least outside she can overwater without needing towels to clean it up (and thank goodness she had her rain boots on).

She loved watering so much we found a few other spots that needed a little liquid love.

Happy to spend a morning in the dirt with this little sweetheart!  One day I hope to have a garden and spend much more time harvesting and planting our own food. Such a great thing to do with your kids and so much to learn and talk about too.

This post is sponsored by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and their release of Miracles from Heaven starring Jennifer Garner. A feel good movie based on a true story about a mother and daughter’s special relationship and miracle in the midst of tragedy.

Photography by Stephanie Gardner