We're getting back to our Sundays as a family (we call them Sunday Fundays but that's corny so I won't say it out loud) and today we spent several hours blueberry picking and then took a wonderful hike.
Is it bad that I like things like blueberry picking because they're productive but still count as fun family time?
David got a few dozen. If you're hoping to get a whole lot of produce on these types of trips, don't count on the kids contributing to the pot. Anything they pick is just bonus.
But they are still quite proud of their contributions. I thought of the incentive that whomever picked the most berries got to pick the first thing that Mama would make with them. We had Team Pie, Team Pancake, and Team Muffin. Oh, yes, we are that fun.
The blueberries were bountiful...plenty of blue but also plenty of green for lots of future pickers. We found a place last year that is WONDERFUL. Organic blueberries at $1.75 a pound. Holy cow, yes. And there were hardly any people there. No one is allowed to tell them that they could advertise more and charge a bunch more. Promise me.
I had some good time with Michael today and we needed it.
And I just love how stinkin' photogenic this boy is!
We went home with twenty one and a half pounds of blueberries. A good pick that should last us a long time. No need for as many pregnancy smoothies this year either so there may be a whole lot more blueberry treats :)
Team Pancake won, by the way. Brian was on that one.
Afterwards, we went down the street to hike the Eternal Flame Trail at a nearby state park.
It was hotter than Hades in the sun but on the trail in the woods it was wonderful.
Michael had a blast. He thought he was pretty big stuff hiking on his own and getting his sandals and feet all wet in the creek. No big deal, mom.
And it was so fun watching John Paul scale trees, walk across log bridges, and climb the ravine.
And this little koala bear stayed mostly happy despite missing a nap.
The hike wasn't a long one, just the perfect length for little ones, actually. We brought a light dinner in John Paul's backpack (it's handy having eight year old boys around!) and ate it next to the creek.
At the end of the trail you reach the "eternal flame." Due to pockets of methane gas escaping from beneath the shale, the flame stays (mostly) lit behind the waterfall. You can smell the methane when you get there. Apparently, if the flame does go out due to wind or lots of water in the creek, you can just relight it with a lighter.
It was pretty neat.
We definitely earned our picnic dinner with that full, fun, exhausting day.
Hope you had a great day as well!
Sounds like a wonderful day. I finally saw the flame for the first time on the 4th of July this year - so neat! We packed out a whole bag of other people's trash, but otherwise it was really very pretty. And cool on a hot day :)
ReplyDeleteYep, I got all principled and brought back some of other's people garbage as well. It wasn't too bad, though. Will never understand people who litter. It's so rude. I need to remember to bring a plastic bag with me when we do this type of stuff because it was a bit gross carrying other people's bottles :)
DeleteTell that little koala bear that he should just go to bed a little earlier tonight since he missed his nap, and he should stay happy while spending the day with his creative wife and 4 wonderful sons...and say hi to Luke for me too. ;D
ReplyDelete