Strawberry Picking and Smashing

oh. poor bubby! I just don't understand how a little kid can L.O.V.E. bathtime so much, and dislike playing in the sprinkler or splashing in the pool. He was pretty confident that I was torturing him by placing him on the grass where a few drops of water were able to reach him. I've gone strawberry picking every year since I can remember and by george this wasn't going to be the first year I didn't go! Life has been too busy to hit the fields before now, and the season is coming to a close. So off we went! I managed to recruit two helpers this year: Emma and Elliot. They promised to pick me plump red juicy bug-free strawberries but quickly got side tracked by puddles, crickets and taste testing strawberries that were either hard and white or definitely way past their prime. About ten minutes into the adventure~ sweating like no true lady should, I looked at my basket full of 6 strawberries and once again found myself questioning why I ever thought this might be a good idea. It would have been fine if I didn't have to search so hard for pickable strawberries. In the past years, I could practically fill my basket sitting in one spot. Not this time! Emma kept exclaiming her finds to me. Once, very excited about finding an "orange and black one". Let's stick to the red ones, ok, Em!!?! We had a blast though. And I managed to pick 4 quarts before Elliot had taken all he could!

* Y U M M Y *

There's my SWEET little helper!

He found something to climb, of course.

I'm pretty sure Emma's shirt did not look like this at the end of our expedition

S W E E T * T R E A T S old timey farm stand

"Hi widdle chickies!!"

This girl has got farming in her blood, I think. There were plenty of cute little chicks for $3.50 each...I actually briefly considered buying Emma one. Then I took a moment to contemplate what we would actually do with it once we got home to our very "UN-FARM-like" place of dwelling.

Elliot had no inhibitions whatsoever when it came to petting the chicks or getting pecked!! This wasn't a huge surprise since just a few weeks ago he stuck a toad in his mouth while I was outside working on my garden.