blueberry picking

We are checking things off our summer fun list quickly around here.  It is strange though because even though it feels like we have been really busy and we've had a lot of fun, some of our days seem endless.  I guess it may be due to the fact that two tired boys fought and cried most of the afternoon today.  It is on those days that I am not as organized and not at the top of my game, that things feel off a little bit.  Today was one of those days.  

As for our summer list, I had grand plans of blogging about each item that we checked off our list.  However, summer vacation and reality set in and that just isn't happening.  I do have the list written out and am thinking of making a scrapbook out of the list and the pictures that I take of some of the things on it.  It seems like that could be a do-able project and one that could either be an annual scrapbook for me to complete or maybe a big one that we add to each year.  I'm not sure which I'll do but the more I think on it, the more I like the idea of a summer scrapbook.

Last year we went with friends to a local farm to pick blueberries and peaches.  It was so much fun that the boys put it on our summer list for this year.  Unfortunately, due to schedules we ended up going alone (just me and the boys).  We set off with great optimism and expectations that it would be as fun as last year.  Those thoughts lasted until we got to the first blueberry bush.  I kid you not.  We pulled in to the parking area and talked with the farmer about where to pick.  Then, we set off to fill our bucket. 

As I reached out to pick a few blueberries, I surprised a daddy long legs spider.  It crawled off the blueberry bush onto my arm, I squealed and brushed him off my arm, right onto John {yikes}.  I nonchalantly tried to brush the spider off John but I had to tell him what I was doing.  And that was all she wrote.  Neither boy wanted to touch a blueberry bush after that. 

Not to be deterred, I continued down the rows picking blueberries as I went.  There were lots of bees, beetles, spiders and other crawling insects to contend with.  One of the things I love about this farm is that their berries are spray free however, you encounter a lot of bugs in that environment.  Not only were there lots of bugs flying and crawling around, it was really hot.  Luke was complaining of the heat, he doesn't like to be too hot, and John was complaining about all the bees.  All the while, I was going down the row picking blueberries as I went. 

We stayed about 35 minutes, filled half of our bucket and took some pictures.  Did I mention the heat?  It was so hot that day.  After the farm we drove to my parents house to share some blueberries with them.  My parents were watching my sister Cathy's dog for the weekend, so we got to see both Sam (my parent's dog) and Max (my sister's dog).  Which I think the boys enjoyed more that the blueberry picking.

Overall, it was fun.  John and I ate almost half of our haul the first day.  We are going to do some baking with the rest this weekend.  And I'm hoping to go back next week with my sister Patty.  For those of you who are local, we went to Spring Valley Farm.  It is located in Cecil County, Maryland which is about a 25-30 minute drive for us.