Enduring Summer

We had forgotten all about going blueberry picking and while I was browsing facebook several weeks ago I came across a PNW article stating that blueberry season is almost over. What?! That's when I told Jacob that we had to go that following weekend.
It wasn't the ideal day to pick, at least not for us. That Saturday that we went picking got up to 94 degrees! I would have never thought that it would get this hot here in the PNW. But we got there, we were mentally prepared, had sunblock on and a cap to block the sun from my face and we had cold drinks. So we were prepared to spend some time here.

Riley remembers this place from last year. He had a lot of fun picking then and was looking forward to doing this again.

The biggest blueberries were found on the top branches and there was plenty. Every time we go to u-pick farms I always remember to thank God for all that He provides for us when I'm taking something I didn't grow myself.

We picked a little over an hour. Sweat was running down our faces. It was so hot! We had planned on filling the bucket at least half way this time but we couldn't stand the hot sun so after an hour we called it quits.
Riley's cheeks were red and his hair was matted down with sweat.

We picked a total of 6.6 lbs. Not too bad. Sure will last us for a while.

After picking we had lunch then we took Riley to a spray-park. Perfect way to cool off. We brought our canopy. So glad we remembered to bring it too.

It was still hot when we got home later that afternoon. The house was too hot so we hung out at our front porch for a while.

We are seriously considering investing on getting a/c in our house next year ... it is a complete necessity!
I don't know how people could stand the heat during Moses' time. When he lead the Israelites out of Egypt and walked through the desert to reach the Promised Land. I'm pretty sure I would have perished.

Anyway, even though the heat was somewhat debilitating, it was a good day. We've been enjoying eating the blueberries in pancakes, smoothies and in oatmeal. I didn't used to add blueberries to my oatmeal but now I do and I just love it even more!

Strawberry Picking 2015

June 20th, 2015
I thought we had missed strawberry picking this year ... thankfully I saw a post from the strawberry farm we went to last year that said that u-pick strawberries were going to be available for just one more weekend. What?! We really didn't have plans to go strawberry picking on this particular weekend but since we really wanted to stock up on them well that's what we did.

It was a sunny morning. There were several families already picking when when arrived. To me being out here {at u-pick farms} is just like spending time by the water. I can't help but admire God's awesome power and creations. Seriously, that thought always crosses my mind and I couldn't help but feel thankful and grateful for everything He has provided for us.

I overheard a mom telling her son that they should be thankful to God for having this opportunity to pick strawberries. I thought that was very neat to hear.

Riley remembers when we were here last year so he knew exactly how to pull the strawberry so it wouldn't get mashed. We did have to remind him to only pick the red strawberries not the ones that were white or green. We found several unripened ones that he had placed in the box, lol.

Most of the strawberries we gathered were on the smaller side. Probably because we picked them late. I'm sure if we had been here two weeks earlier we would have gotten larger ones. These are as sweet as can be.

It took us about forty minutes to fill three flats. We definitely picked enough strawberries to last us all summer. Looking forward to strawberry smoothies and semi homemade strawberry ice cream. We made some last year and loved the chunks of strawberry in it.

We didn't bring any gardening gloves so by the time we were done picking our hands were all blood red and sticky.
When we got home I rinsed them and took off the stem, then I placed them on wax paper on a cookie sheet and put them in the freezer until they were mostly frozen, then I put them in freezer bags. This way they wont stick together when we're trying to get a few only.

Next will be blueberry picking in mid July.

Spray-park and Blueberry Picking

Last weekend we went to a park, but before we even set foot in the park we ate lunch right on the truck's tailgate. I knew that if Riley saw the spray-park he wouldn't want to ride his bike or let alone eat his lunch.

Once we were done eating Sydna helped me set up our stuff while the boys headed for the looping trail. Riley sat on his bike and began pedaling but was going nowhere, lol. The chain had come loose. Jacob couldn't get the chain to stay on the sprockets. It took him about five minutes to finally get the chain on right.

Once his bike was fixed off he went.

He enjoyed himself so much. We couldn't help but laugh ... even Sydna back there was cracking up at her little brother. He just looked so cute and funny riding his bike.

After going around the looping trail six times he finally got tired. He drank lots of water then asked to put on his swimming trunks.

The water was cold but it felt good on this very warm day. Riley though, would run away from it. Little chicken.

After a while Riley got cold. He came to me and told me he wanted to ride his bike again. By this time the older kids were asking when we were going to leave. Ugh! I ignored their questions because really, it's not up to them when we leave places.

Riley was very confident by now. He even rode his bike with his legs up on the bar.

This face ... we all love him so much!

On our way to the park we spotted a blueberry farm. Once we left the park we drove back to it. This was our very first blueberry picking experience.

We let Riley hold the bucket, we told him to only pick the blue berries {not the white ones} and there was no stopping him. He really took a liking to it. Didn't fuss not one time.

Blueberries are Jacob's favorite so he wanted to make sure we picked a lot of them.

After an hour we figured we had picked enough. Plus, we were feeling a bit worn out from being all day out in the sun.

Shy of 5 lbs. for $7.22, not bad.

Blueberry picking was a lot of fun. We've come to realize that we really enjoy u-pick farms. It is so fun to pick your own fruit and veggies and it is a perfect opportunity to do this as a family and create more fun memories. Even Riley said several times during our visit, "this is fun huh?, I like picking blueberries". Now, we will add blueberry picking to our list of new Washington traditions.


We left around 6:30 pm. We took a different freeway back home and we couldn't help but comment at how beautiful it is here. We know it's a beautiful state but what's amazing is that everywhere you go around the Seattle area or even two hours away from Seattle in both directions, North and South ... it's still pretty. We have yet to drive to Eastern Washington so I can't give my input on that yet.

I really enjoyed our Saturday. I didn't let the sun determine what time we would leave or the brief nagging of my two older kids. I was in the moment and took in everything around me. Stopping at the blueberry farm was an added bonus that hadn't even crossed our minds to do.

I washed the blueberries and spread them on cookie sheets and put them in the freezer. Once frozen we placed them in freezer bags. We're stocked up for a while. We still have strawberries too. Sydna has made herself strawberry smoothies and Jacob's made us strawberry ice cream. He also already made us blueberry muffins. I'm hoping that this coming weekend he'll make us blueberry pancakes. Yum!

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!!