A Day Out South Of The Sound

The only thing I had planned for Saturday was to go strawberry picking.

While everyone in the East coast and Midwestern states picked their strawberries about a month ago the PNW strawberries had us waiting. But FINALLY! ... I got an email notification from the strawberry farm informing me that their strawberries were ready for picking.
I was looking forward to this because we had never done this before.

We drove about thirty minutes to Picha Farms in Tacoma.

I thought it was going to be full of people since strawberry picking is only in season but a few weeks and this was the second weekend since it opened. Surprisingly, there weren't many people. Maybe four families. We were directed to pick our strawberries right after the little white flag that was placed as a marker from the previous picker{s}. Smart thing to do.
We got two flats. Sydna and Nathan took one and Jacob, Riley and I had the other. Riley immediately got down on his knees and began picking. We had to remind him to only pick the red ones. He did throw several unripened ones in the flat that we had to take out.

You know what we found cool? That most strawberries were bite size, decent size. We didn't really see many big strawberries. Perfect for little hands to grab.

He would say, "here's more" when he found a new strawberry cluster. It was quite exciting!

After picking for a while he looked at the flat and was so proud of himself for picking so many that he began to clap. Hard work is so rewarding!

We didn't want to over pick and have to throw some away because they didn't get eaten in time but Riley was enjoying himself so much that he didn't want to stop.

We all had a fun time. We kept saying how awesome it would be to be able to grow fruits and vegetables and hopefully one day we'll get to do just that.

Jacob ate a couple strawberries and noticed the difference between these strawberries and the ones we get at the store. These were better ... tastier and sweeter and not hollow like some store bought tend to be.

To be honest, the back of my legs were killing me from crouching down for long periods of time. I should have bought a gardening knee pad so I could have rested my knees and not be hurting and uncomfortable. Now I know for next time we go strawberry picking.

After we were done picking strawberries I thought we were going back home but Jacob asked if we wanted to go to Olympia for some Old School Pizza. You don't have to tell us twice. Pizza? Heck yeah. We made that 40 minute drive {from Tacoma}.
Last time we ate at Old School Pizza my pizza breading was a bit crispy/crunchy. I didn't like that. But this time it was just right. I quite enjoyed it.

Jacob had been wanting to check out Olympia's Farmers Market and since we were just a couple of blocks away we went. They had a decent amount of vendors, a band was playing and the marina was just across the parking lot.
I don't think I've ever had turnips before. I wonder if they taste good or if they have a strong flavor. I liked the different hues of pink of the radishes.

There were also quite a bit of flower stands.

We kept on walking and we came upon the marina. This was our first time in this particular area. We had been across the street from here, where you can see the State Capitol. It surprised me how low the tide was. The first thing I noticed as we got closer to the bay was water squirting from the ground. I heard a man standing close by telling one of his grandkids that it was clams squirting water. It was so weird to see. Sydna also said that there were a lot of baby crabs moving around.

I was telling Jacob that it would be so neat to go on board a tugboat and pull one of those huge ships to port. I find things like that interesting. Seriously, the city should have things like that available to the public.

That's Jacob and the kids all the way over there. Hellloooo there!

See what I mean about the tide being so low? Water was still dripping from these muscles.  I wonder how long it takes for the water to rise. Just crazy!

Since it was low tide we could clearly see lots of sea stars.  We saw a lot of big ones and some with lots of arms. I think those are the least appealing of all sea stars. I particularly like the black, blue and mint colored ones.

Sydna was telling me how grossed out she was by the noise the baby crabs were making as they scurried about. She said it gave her chills and made her anxiety rise, lol. Goofball. She becomes so uneasy with things like that and bugs {took after her father}. Not me. I'm tough ... as long as its not slimy or slithers about or a tarantula. But any smaller size spider I will kill in a heartbeat ... and sometimes with my bare hand.

Looks like Riley was in deep conversation with daddy.

Nathan shy's away from the camera now-a-days so I try to be as sneaky as possible when taking pictures of him. Teenagers!

Poor sea star. Why didn't it let go as the tide was lowering. I was starring at it for about a minute to see if for some reason it was still alive but I didn't see the tentacles move at all. I wonder how long it took for it to die?

Jacob, Nathan and Riley up at the lookout tower.

Jacob said that he still likes the Des Moines farmers market better than this one. I would have to agree.

It was still quite early so we decided to head on over to Lattin's Apple Cider Farm, the one we went to for the Easter egg hunt. It's always fun petting farm animals so off we went.

We bought some feed and visited with the goats. These nannies and billies were hungry!

Riley was laughing because the goats tongue tickled his hand.

Meanwhile, Sydna was visiting with the baby chicks. They're so cute!

Aren't they?

Checking out the peacocks. Riley calls them "peatocks", lol.

A few more steps we came upon more goats. These ones were for sale. As soon as they saw us they all came running towards us but we had already ran out of feed. Sorry guys.

I also petted this one. It was so sweet. They're so soft. It let me pet it under its chin and it put its mouth on my hand. Their lips are very soft. If I had somewhere to put the goat believe me we would have several, ... and some sheep and ducks.

Lately, I've been craving mocca frappucinos. So shortly after getting on the freeway we stopped at a starbucks and we all got some. So delicious!
We were finally on our way back home.

As soon as we got home I rinsed off all the strawberries and separated them. I put some strawberries in a container for us to snack on for the next few days and froze the rest. I spread them on a cookie sheet so they could freeze separately then once frozen I put them in freezer baggies, filled those half way. Now we have plenty for whenever we want to make smoothies. Jacob made some strawberry jam. It turned out good.

Also at Lattin's we picked up a few treats. Jacob loves their cider so he got strawberry and spiced cider. I got piña colada and apple bread. They are super moist.

And there's nothing better than an unexpected surprise. Jacob got me a pretty flower bouquet, just because.

Now that's lovely! This man of mine knows my heart all too well.

I thank God for that!!