Strawberry Picking, Well Kind Of…Not Really

You would think by now I would have learned my lesson about these seasonal fruit picking experiences. But here we are, another year and another almost (this time basically) dropped the ball. For some crazy reason I always tend to think that strawberries are more towards the end of June when in reality, several farmers told us they start picking early to mid May depending on the year.

Last year we were able to go strawberry picking for Father’s Day, so in my mind, I thought we still had plenty of time. I guess because last winter was so brutal the crops started later where this year the winter was very mild and they started earlier. Clearly my farming/crop game is lacking and none of that even crossed my mind.

I also just noticed that A is wearing the same shirt from last year and I kind of love that. I must have this weird thing with their shirts going on because I dug back into the archives and the same shirt thing has been going on for sometime now. I’m so serious, none of this is ever planned. I guess I just like certain shirts on them and they resurface. Someone actually mentioned that they see us wearing the same things in some of our pictures, not in a bad way, but appreciate that we have real life moments and clothes that we actually wear and not to just take pictures in…anywayyyy.

Let’s get back to the beginning with our attempt at strawberry picking. If you saw my random ramblings in my insta stories, then you might know a little bit about what went on. Let’s see, this weekend turned out to be such a good one (which I will share more about in my upcoming favorites later on this week) but there was one thing missing…strawberry picking!

We have gone almost every year since I can pretty much remember. My parents would always take us picking, round us up for family pictures, and go home with way more than we could probably eat. It was an experience. Memories created. Tradition.

I’ve mentioned so many times before that it’s something Eric and I have done with all of our boys now. Because of that, there was nooo way I was letting baby C’s first strawberry picking experience not take place.

We got the boys together and put them in the car to head to a farm that I used to picked at as a little girl. Unfortunately when we got there they were closed and already done picking.  We hurried up and googled local places to see if we could try our luck anywhere else. We did come across another farm that wasn’t too far away and made our way over there. We made it in enough time but they told us there weren’t many strawberries left. And guess what? They were not lying. No joke, if we picked 30 strawberries that was a lot. And by strawberries, I mean, tiny ones that weren’t really ripe yet, some that had holes in the back of them, some that we larger but green. Let’s just say it was not our typical strawberry experience.

I mentioned that sometimes you win some, and sometimes you lose some. But in this situation, I’m not even considering it a loss, because even though it wasn’t what we expected, or really what we hoped for, you know what happened…the boys had fun, Eric and I joked around about it, we still got some cute pictures, and the baby somehow managed to grab the smallest, and what I thought was unripe, strawberry, and get juice on his little outfit. It’s not a strawberry experience if you don’t wear it, right?

This trip comes with a story to tell and next year when he will be big enough to pick them on his own, we’ll be making sure we go with plenty of time. I told Eric, listen, next year we’re going at the start of the season and will finish off what we get and still have time to make it back out for round two. Hmmm let’s see if I can hold myself to that one 😉