Memoirs of a Mama: Family

10 June 2013

This past weekend, Steve, unfortunately had to work. On weekends like this I like to try to come up with something interesting to do with the kids. Sitting at home counting down the minutes until Steve pulls into the driveway is just so boring.

So, while perusing ~~Facebook~~ the Internet, looking for kid-friendly things to do, I came across several people discussing different "U-Pick" Farms we have in town. I had no idea! Blueberries, Blackberries, Strawberries, Peaches...all at our fingertips! So, Saturday morning we headed out and picked berries until our hearts were content.

We started the morning at a blackberry farm. There were also peach trees there, but we saved those for another trip. Autumn loved picking the blackberries. After a quick explaination about not picking the pink ones because they were still growing, she was off, basket in hand.

After the blackberries we headed to a nearby organic blueberry farm. The blueberries were a little harder for the kids to pick, because they are so much smaller than blackberries, so it did not hold their interest quite as long. What did keep Autumn entertained was taste testing. After picking berries for approximately 3.5 seconds Autumn asked me if she could try one. Little did I know that "trying one" translates to "eat your heart out" in toddler talk. I had to quickly stop her from turning into Violet in "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" and reminded her that we need to pay for the berries that we pick before we can eat them. To which she replied, "But Mama, they are just so delicious!"

We met Steve later in the afternoon for lunch and Autumn was so excited to show her Daddy all the berries she had picked that morning!

That evening we took the kids out to dinner at a local seafood restaurant. In front of the restaurant there is a small "splash pad" with spouts that shoot water into the air. Knowing this ahead of time I packed their swimsuits and a couple of towels. Autumn had a ball running through the water and Nate was pretty entertained by the smaller spouts.

Looking back through the pictures I took of our day I realized that taking big trips, like to Disney World, is awesome and I always look forward to going, but this simple day spent picking and splashing cost close to nothing and resulted in Autumn saying, "Mama this was the best day". You can't beat that.