Avoiding Housework

The house is a mess.  The floors need to be swept, looking in the bathroom sink and the ring around it makes me go "ugh!" and I can't bring myself to truly think about the last time I dusted.  Today, I just didn't care.  Sometimes you have to throw your hands in the air, jump in the car, and escape it all.  So we did just that...we escaped.

The idea has been lingering in my mind for some time now.  I have never been to a berry farm, but the idea of it always seemed fun.  Rusty is at the perfect age and lately he is obsessed with berries!  His papa grows raspberries in his backyard and has taken him out berry picking almost every day the last week or so.  Rusty loves the berries.  He instructs Papa on where to go and relishes the moments when he pops those berries into his mouth.  When we ask him where they go, he says, "Mouth," and then "Chin," and then "Belly" and then "TOES!"  Of course!  The berries go all the way down to his toes, it's perfectly logical in a 1 1/2 year old mind!  Knowing his love for picking the berries, I thought a trip to the strawberry farm was sure to be fun. 

We invited along some good friends, hopped in their car, crossed the bridge and soon were out in the sun, relishing the green around us and hunting for that special treasure, those little, ruby pieces of sweet.  I wasn't sure how Rusty would do.  I thought he might try to pop the berries right into his mouth, a big NO at a berry picking farm.  He did great!  I explained that the berries had to go into the bucket and he followed me right down the row, picking the berries I pointed out to him and plopping them in the bucket. He worked pretty hard, making it halfway down the row and almost filling an entire bucket before throwing his hands in the air and declaring, "ALL DONE!"

Rusty was pretty pleased with his berry treasure.  He would peer inside his bucket and he was just waiting to sample his treasures.  The look of glee on his face made the trip out there worth it. 

Once we took our berries back, weighed them and paid for them, it was time to sample our precious treasure.  We washed a few up, and scarfed them down, Rusty scarfing much faster than I!  He would try to pop the entire strawberry in his mouth and eat it up.  There is something about those berries that was true perfection.  Maybe it was that they were sun-warmed, maybe it was the fact that they were just that fresh, I'm not really sure.  I do know that they were the tastiest strawberries I have had yet this season, and I think Rusty agrees!

The berry farm had a small petting zoo and a sand pit.  It was such a great place!  The only thing we actually had to pay for was the berries, our buckets, oh, and all of the tasty treats we took home as well!  I couldn't help but buy a bottle of the tasty-looking blackberry syrup and a peach blackberry pie.  I can't wait to have an excuse to bake up that pie for some friends.  Any volunteers?

Rusty loved the sand pit.  I think if I had let him he would have gladly skipped lunch and gone right through nap in that pit.  Nana and Papa, I think we are going to have to make sure that a sand pit is part of his birthday play set!  As for the petting zoo, he wasn't super fond of the big horses, but he really enjoyed seeing the bunnies, sheep and goats!  I hope we can expose him to some more farm animals this summer when we are home with my family!

The day was definitely a great alternative to staying home and cleaning the house.  The dirt will always be there, the berries and the smiles on my little boy's face?  Those days pass by much too fast!