Strawberry Patch

This morning my neighbor came over with a little basket of strawberries. I was very excited because she had been strawberry picking at the local strawberry farm. Last year I missed strawberry picking because I was vacationing in the great state of North Dakota. I had been hoping I would make it back this year in time to pluck some of those juicy, red berries.

Today is a fantastic strawberry picking day: cloudy, 74 degrees and a light breeze to keep away the bugs. After my children devoured 1/4 of the little basket (Noah even got some without me looking and ate the leaves and everything) I decided to load everybody up and take them to the patch, even though I heard that it was very crowded. Luckily for me, things had died down in the people department by the time we got there.

Ms. Crazy Preschooler and I picked 2 ice cream pails before we knew it. (It was a little tricky crouching down with my big pregnant belly.) She ate as many as made it into her pail. I made the mistake of giving strawberries to Noah several months ago, forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to have them until age two, and wouldn’t you know it, the kid is NUTS about strawberries. He cannot get enough. We gave him a few at the strawberry patch while he squirmed around dramatically in his stroller, and then out of desperation for more he figured out if he leaned far over at just the right angle he could pick his own berries. I’m not sure how many he had in the end, but both kidlets had faces and hands covered in strawberry juice.

Tonight I am going on a strawberry freezer jam making marathon. Yum.