blue berries

Saturday morning we made our third annual pilgrimage to the Berry Patch for some blueberry picking. Due to my increasing size and diminishing energy levels I really wanted to go at a time that Anthony could come too. We had planned to go Friday evening, but decided to postpone things because the kids were struggling to behave. Will woke me up from a short nap to remind me to return his library book (a book he had shed tears over when I told him it was due soon) and couldn't stop pestering Lauren. Lauren was only communicating via whine and had an itchy trigger to hit and scream anytime Will so much as glanced in her direction (which he was doing often on purpose). Finally I made both kids go to their rooms until TJ got home because I couldn't take it anymore. When he arrived home he suggested we go out to eat and go to the pool to relax after if we were feeling up to it. Moods improved almost instantly, or at least mine did when I realized going out meant I didn't have to prepare dinner.

On top of the improved moods Friday night, by Saturday morning the temperature had dropped almost twenty degrees and everyone was feeling refreshed. We headed to the patch after breakfast and got to picking right away.

Which berry is bigger? They were both determined to find the biggest berry at the patch.

 

There were tons of big, blue berries this year. I don't know if it is because of all the rainfall we've received this year or if we happened to come during a better picking time, but this was our best batch of berries yet.

We all worked pretty consistently at first. Then Lauren needed to take a break and evaluate the flavor of the berries. Her and I shared a bucket and despite the two of us putting berries into it, we ended up with the smallest amount of berries when we went to weigh in.

 

 Happy to be finishing up right as it started to get hot.

The area where you pay always houses some interesting treasures. The kids were especially fascinated by the bees.

I was more interested in the baked goods.

We decided to reward ourselves with a muffin. They were fairly large muffins so we got one to split. After the snack the kids played on the hay bales for a bit.

It turned out to be a fun morning adventure. I was so frustrated when we decided not to go the night before (because I hate breaking plans and letting the kids down, even though their behavior didn't warrant the activity). While we were there I couldn't get over how much better everything has worked out and how much fun we were having with each other. As my due date approaches--less than a month--I am getting increasing sentimental about the time we spend together.