It's strawberry time!!

At the beginning of the summer the girls and I sat down to create our "summer list" of fun things to do.  Highlights always include:  go see a movie in the movie theater, eat lots of ice cream from all of our local spots, read tons of books/library book club and pick berries.

Yesterday was the day.  Cooler temperatures, a free afternoon, bellies ready for strawberries!  Yum ;)

Since our morning was pretty booked, we left after lunch.  Now I know that is a dangerous time for Mei Mei to drive any distance in the car because she typically falls asleep.  And when she falls asleep and has to be woken up, she can be a real bear.  But, what can you do when the farm is 25 minutes away and it is 2 in the afternoon?  Hope for the best, that's what!

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.  She was in a real funk when we finally pulled into the farm.  Crying, whining, yelling--the whole, ugly, nine yards.  A certain adult may or may not have lost her cool. Thankfully the Noodle stayed calm and kept out of it.  #smartmove

We almost, almost left, because when you're turning 5 in a few days and you dig your heels in, refusing to walk, what else can you do?!  Thankfully, she eventually settled down, pulled herself together and then was in the best mood.  Go figure-ha!

I don't know if it was later in the season or the fact that we've been so dry, but at first, we had a hard time even finding any berries to pick.  Once we found some bushes and settled in, we realized that the berries were pretty small.  I got wise this year and only took 2 buckets for the 3 of us.

That ended up being the perfect amount because I could go back and forth helping each girl out, we were out there just long enough to keep everyone motivated (with the reminder of frozen custard as the reward at the end!) and yet we picked enough berries to make it worthwhile.  Win!

At the end of a berry picking session we always stop and get frozen custard from a little farm stand close by. That sweet treat always tastes soo good and is a true snapshot of  all the things I love about summer--hanging with my girls, making memories, eating yummy food!

Here's to summer!!