Summer Time Fun

On Tuesday morning the kids and I drove out to Silverton on a quest for u-pick strawberries at $.60 a pound. We somehow found our way to the not well marked strawberry stand to weigh in our containers before getting directions on how to drive to the strawberry field. Once we got there we slathered on the sun screen and joined the other berry pickers. Grace and Ethan were zero help in picking berries but they had a fantastic time eating them. I laid down the ground rules that they could eat any of the red berries but had to leave the unripe ones alone. For the most part they did pretty ok. It took me about an hour to fill my three containers and then we climbed into the van to clean up and eat lunch. Wet wipes took care of most of the strawberry juice and dirt on our hands and the kids' faces/arms/legs. I was smart enough to bring a change in clothes for the kids so I changed them too. I packed a small cooler with a picnic lunch and we ate it before we drove back to the strawberry stand to pay for our 15lbs of strawberries. The total? $9.95.

We wound our way up the back roads to Woodburn to get onto I-5 and head up to Portland to visit a friend for the afternoon. On the way we stopped at a photography store that I spied and I picked up a cheap lens hood for my 50mm to play with. We got to our friends' house and as we walked up to the front door Grace told me that Gabriella is her favorite friend. The two girls are certainly two peas in a pod, I wish Gabriella was a little closer so they could play together more often! Natalie has two little girls that are almost the exact ages as my kids. Gabriella is a month younger then Grace and Juliana is four months younger then Ethan. Ethan is the lone boy but he held his own with the three girls. He likes to play with baby dolls and play kitchens too! Natalie and I had a good time chatting and talking photography. After watching the girls go through about four changes of dress up clothes we headed to the park with the four kids. The kids were super excited about the creek and did their best to get as muddy as possible while throwing rocks. A few more baby wipes and they were reasonably clean.

By the time we walked back to our car it was after 5pm and rush hour traffic had started and we were hungry. We bid our friends goodbye and met my Mom at Chevy's for a yummy mexican meal. I had a watermelon margarita which was super tasty! Mom and I both had the citrus pork tacos and since the kids' meals were free (kids eat free on Tuesdays!) we got both the kids a meal which fed them dinner and lunch on Wednesday. After dinner I gave mom a bunch of strawberries and we headed home. It took Grace about 15 minutes to fall asleep and Ethan even less time. I wish I had remembered their pajamas but I didn't, so Ethan went to bed in his filthy second set of clothes for the day and Grace woke up grumpy enough when we got home to insist on pink pajamas and then throw a fit about going to bed.

Yesterday I had almost 15lbs of strawberries to deal with so I set to jam making. I made 4 batches of freezer jam, made strawberry oven pancakes and strawberry smoothies for dinner, and froze a freezer bag full to use later. The jam is soooooo yummy and I doubt it lasts too long. I used almost all the small sized plastic containers in the house but it was worth it. I'll probably bring some over to share with the neighbors and keep a container (or two!) in the fridge to eat now and freeze the rest. My freezer isn't that big and I'm out of Tupperware or I'd be tempted to make more!