Berry Pickin'

Friday we headed about an hour north to pick berries at Berry Patch Farms. I've never done this with my kids before and thought it would be a cool experience...or it could be awful!...you never know with kids. We got there around 10 and stayed 'till 12. (They were closing early because of the holiday weekend.) Overall, it was a great experience and I'd do it again. The entrance is a charming old fashioned red barn with a country store. There were very cool roosters, chickens and turkeys to look out - and apparently a pig too, although we never found her. They have a tractor driven wagon to take you out to the fields and the driver was really nice and helpful. A few things I'd do differently: check to make sure that something was actually in season to pick, take a water bottle into the field for the kids, and bring along a friend.

The pictures are really cute. However, I had a discussion with a friend the other day, how people always post cute happy pics of their kids - but leave out the gory details that all parents know all too well. So in the interest of honest blogging, I will report that it was not all sunshine and smiles at the berry patch. My 4 year old son was done with the whole thing after about 20 minutes. Being 4, he planted himself in the middle of a furrow and commenced to scream and cry that he a) wanted a juice box b) wanted his Daddy c) wanted to go home - NOW! 

There was also the issue of the potty. Both younger kids had to go as soon as the wagon dropped us off in the middle of farmville. There was a very nice CLEAN porta johnny right there, but of course neither wanted any part of that. So there was a good 20+ minutes of threats and crying to get them in there and get the job done.

If you ask them now if they enjoyed it, they'll all say yes with a lot of enthusiasm. Even the little guy. But that's the thing about kids. They don't remember the bad parts too much, just the good ones. They focus on the positive Another lesson they taught me at the berry patch. Way more important than water bottles or bathroom breaks.

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