A Berry Adventure

Every family has a few sacred traditions. We don't have many but we do have a few. We go see Disney on Ice around the beginning of December. We make a gingerbread house from scratch before Christmas. Clearly Christmas is my big "we do traditions" holiday with it's two traditions.

But in early June we have one more and that is when we go strawberry picking. This year we weren't sure it was going to happen. It was a really cool and wet May which greatly limited the berries. Then the weekend we thought we could go, the berries weren't ready. This past weekend was too busy to work it in. And the Iowa berry season is really short. So that was it. I was bummed but I would have gotten over it I think. I am not sure the kids would have. They love fruit. You probably don't remember but M was even a strawberry for Halloween this past year. 

But yesterday, Husband decided to cut out of work at 2:30 and we woke M up from nap and headed out to pick berries. And by headed out I mean it because we had to go to the same patch as last year which is about an hour away. 

We got there. Got our row assignment and headed out. We were in our row for about five minutes and I also managed to take two really good pictures. 

And then it started to rain.

We tried to keep going for a few minutes but it got harder and darker and the kids and I started making our way to the car. Well, C and I did anyway. M does this thing in the rain where she just can't move. I don't get it. She wants to move forward I think but she can't move more than an inch at a time. 

So I ran back down the row, grabbed M and carried her to the car in the now down pour. Husband was trying to keep picking during all this rig-a--ma-roll. Once M and I got to the car where C was running around like a chicken with his head cut off, I just opened the back hatch of the van and we all climbed in. The third row seat is out and we've been using that as our changing area after swim lessons so it was the perfect place to huddle. Then it started to hail and Husband came running in.

After a little while the little system passed and M and Husband headed back out in the lingering sun shower. C wasn't having any of that and we stayed in the car until there was no precipitation at all. So we picked out berries. Once we had filled our box and the bugs were annoying we took the obligatory picture in front of the sign. Which also is a framer.

Then on the way to weigh the berries and pay... the handle of our big box broke and it was strawberries ALL over the dirt and gravel parking lot. Yep. Husband picked the 14 pounds of berries up while I kept our kids from crushing them and eventually we were all on our way.

This picture was taken to show that the sun did come out, not because I thought we were going to spill the berries. But it works for both!

Since it was later than we planned to leave because of the rain storm, we got McDonald's to take home. Well the bad luck rain and spilling reversed itself because the kids got the walrus and penguin beanie babies in their Happy Meals without us even asking. That was like a miracle. And the kids were so so excited. "How did Old McDonald's know it was my favorite animal!?"

After the kids went to bed, Husband and I washed the strawberries really really well. Like soaking them, and individually rinsing them well. We got a bunch into the freezer, some in the fridge for eating and then I made the fresh strawberry sauce I make annually. So pretty much the perfect ending to the day.

Our strawberry picking tradition held up and with a particularly interesting twist to the whole thing this year. The pictures exist solely to provide evidence we didn't skip 2017 but it was such an adventure I don't think any of us will ever forget. It's the thing legends are made of. "Remember when we picked strawberries and it started to downpour? And then the box spilled?"

Awesome. I am so thankful for my family and our adventures.