Strawberry Picking

One of the items on our family's summer bucket list was to go strawberry picking.

The kiddos LOVE strawberries and I thought it would be a neat experience for them to be able to pick their own strawberries and see that they just don't come from the store. I also wanted to get some to freeze so that I can make smoothies over the summer months.

I hoped that I wasn't too late. I wanted to do this last summer, but it seemed like strawberries were in season for maybe 5 days last year. It was a bad year last year.

Well this year I was on the ball. I have friended local orchards and farm markets on facebook and was thrilled when over the weekend Legend Hills Orchard and Farm Market posted that U-pick strawberries were open. YIPPEE!!!

On Tuesday afternoon, after Bill came home from work, we loaded the kids up and headed to the orchard (about 20 minutes away). We had a great time picking the strawberries!

We parked the van and one of the first things that happened was that Jacob got out of the van, stepped in to some weeds and then proceeded to tumble down into a small ditch. He wasn't hurt, in fact he had the expression on his face, like what just happened? After getting over this little mishap, the kids and Bill headed off to find some strawberries while I followed with Benjamin in his stroller.

Jacob kept hollering "I see one, I see one!" He was so cute. Bill showed him how to find the good strawberries and he did a great job.

Rebecca said that it was "the best day of her life!" I think she had a great time.

After picking her share of strawberries, I gave her the camera and told her she could take some pictures. She LOVED being behind the camera.

Benjamin just took it all in as he rode down the aisles in his stroller. He enjoyed the fruits of our labor at dinner time! LOL

All told, we ended up picking almost 8 lbs of strawberries, which gives us lots for the refrigerator for the next couple of days and 2 trays full for the freezer for use in smoothies later in the summer.

Overall it was a great day with the family and the memories will last a lifetime!

Have you ever been strawberry picking?