Strawberry Pickin' Time...

Last spring we took Wild Man and Little Miss strawberry picking. We had so much fun we decided to make it a yearly tradition. Unfortunately we could not find a weekend to go as a family so we went as a trio today sans Daddy. This years adventure was basically a repeat of last. I picked strawberries and played paparazzi. Wild Man hid from honey bees while inspecting berries from afar. He waited for me to pick them and then proclaimed "Look, Mommy! Look! It's a strawberry!" about 100 times. :-)
They played with the borrowed farm umbrella just in case it rained...Little Miss stole all the strawberries from my basket and claimed them for her own (but isn't she the cutest strawberry thief you've ever seen?)...
How about a group shot for Mommy? Show me your berries please...
Hey, Mom? Do you see the sky? You should probably stop taking pictures and look over your shoulder...
It's looking a little stormy... YIKES!
It was at this point I hear the ladies from the strawberry patch screaming from the main house..."Get out of the field!!!! A storm is coming!!!!" I grabbed all of our garb and we started running along with the other six people in the patch. I watched the two women jump in their SUV's and drive like crazy people from the main house to the strawberry patch. By the time they got to us it was lightning all around with strong winds. One of the women took Little Miss from me while Wild Man and I jumped over the rows of strawberries to get in the car. Little Miss FREAKED OUT! It all happened so quickly I think she thought they were taking her away. She didn't see us go around to the other side of the Explorer so when the woman tried to put her in she SCREAMED BLOODY MURDER until she realized it was me on the other side. The bottom fell out about the time we closed the door. While I'm trying to calm my screaming two year old the woman driving is going ON and ON about how the radar looked terrible--how they were afraid we were going to get struck by lightning--how storms are SOOO SCARY on their farm. Ugh! HELLOOOOO---terrified children in the back seat--one of which is screaming in your ear because she doesn't like storms (and she thought you were a kidnapper). Be quiet lady! Anyway...we looked like drowned rats by the time we made it from the car to the main house but at least we didn't have to run the entire way to the house. In honor of their bravery, they treated both of them to a popsicle...
Of course, Wild Man declined because he doesn't like strawberry popsicles--though he LOVES strawberries --CRAZY KID! Clearly Little Miss had no issues with her special treat...
Once at home we made strawberry-banana smoothies together... and 24 jars of strawberry freezer jam...
This is what Little Miss thinks about strawberry jam...