Larriland Farms
Last week we went to the farm for a good dose of strawberry picking. Initially, the girls and I weren't going to go as I wasn't sure how C was going to do in the ridiculous heat. But miracles happen and the days of 98+ degree weather (and their 108 degree feel with the humidity) made way for a few gorgeous days in the 70s.
So we headed off to the strawberry fields. I wondered how to manage a toddler who would undoubtedly desire to run off through the fields, swiping strawberries along the way, and a newborn who could quite possibly melt down at any moment for any reason.
Yeah, it kind of goes without saying that I was absolutely nervous. Two kids? Open spaces? In public? Yeah, could have been a recipe for disaster.
However, it all went well. Mostly thanks to good friends and delicious strawberries right in our vicinity. Bean was incredibly well behaved and C chilled out in her stroller, dozing off periodically.
The kids had a ball picking the strawberries and actually managed to get the hang of only picking the good ones fairly quickly.
Most of the time, the kids were eating strawberries. In the beginning, Bean was intent on filling her tray, but once she spotted some of the other kids eating strawberries, it was game over.
I let Bean go nuts in the field while I stood over by C-Rex. She had a little admirer who wanted C to share in the fun.
Amy's kids were on two ends of the spectrum. H's tray was actually filled with strawberry stems instead of strawberries. C was harvesting strawberries at a breakneck speed. I was impressed with his pace :)
At one point, some of the kids took a quick break for snacking.
Later we had lunch and the kids played a nice game of "Ring Around the Rock" The rock turned out to be the "Little Baby" of Miss E who adopted it rather readily. (Toddlers are so funny with their attachment to things... I spent 30 minutes hunting up a rock that Bean had proclaimed her "very beee-ewtiful rock!" because she wouldn't go to sleep without it).
Then the kids had sunflower smelling session. Bean thought it was stinky. Or it tickled her nose. I didn't know.
L's face seems to indicate that he found the sunflower far more favorable than Bean did.
It was a nice day... and it tuckered out Miss Bean enough that she dropped right off to sleep on the way to my parents' house. Exactly as planned.
Oh, and the hilarious thing: Bean brought her tray up to the register to pay for her strawberries and the total was 68 cents. Yeah, I think she ate about 5 bucks worth of strawberries. I gladly forked over the 68 cents. Small price to pay for a nice day.
So we headed off to the strawberry fields. I wondered how to manage a toddler who would undoubtedly desire to run off through the fields, swiping strawberries along the way, and a newborn who could quite possibly melt down at any moment for any reason.
Yeah, it kind of goes without saying that I was absolutely nervous. Two kids? Open spaces? In public? Yeah, could have been a recipe for disaster.
However, it all went well. Mostly thanks to good friends and delicious strawberries right in our vicinity. Bean was incredibly well behaved and C chilled out in her stroller, dozing off periodically.
The kids had a ball picking the strawberries and actually managed to get the hang of only picking the good ones fairly quickly.
Most of the time, the kids were eating strawberries. In the beginning, Bean was intent on filling her tray, but once she spotted some of the other kids eating strawberries, it was game over.
I let Bean go nuts in the field while I stood over by C-Rex. She had a little admirer who wanted C to share in the fun.
Amy's kids were on two ends of the spectrum. H's tray was actually filled with strawberry stems instead of strawberries. C was harvesting strawberries at a breakneck speed. I was impressed with his pace :)
At one point, some of the kids took a quick break for snacking.
Later we had lunch and the kids played a nice game of "Ring Around the Rock" The rock turned out to be the "Little Baby" of Miss E who adopted it rather readily. (Toddlers are so funny with their attachment to things... I spent 30 minutes hunting up a rock that Bean had proclaimed her "very beee-ewtiful rock!" because she wouldn't go to sleep without it).
Then the kids had sunflower smelling session. Bean thought it was stinky. Or it tickled her nose. I didn't know.
L's face seems to indicate that he found the sunflower far more favorable than Bean did.
It was a nice day... and it tuckered out Miss Bean enough that she dropped right off to sleep on the way to my parents' house. Exactly as planned.
Oh, and the hilarious thing: Bean brought her tray up to the register to pay for her strawberries and the total was 68 cents. Yeah, I think she ate about 5 bucks worth of strawberries. I gladly forked over the 68 cents. Small price to pay for a nice day.