Strawberry Fields and 80's hair

I have been *ah hem* slightly behind on my posts. It's all well meaning and I could go on with excuses blah blah blah. Basically it comes down to...I suck.

BUT I have a great parenting win to share with you. We have a fantastic farm, R and C Dairy, that is about 20 minutes north of us. Our friend Abamalamma told us about it and she has been going there for great raw milk, organic fresh produce, fresh honey and pecans, etc for years. Well they have You-pick Strawberries going on right now and we scored major on it. So we gathered up the fam and went Strawberry pickin'! All except for a sorely misjudged outfit on my part that added 10 lbs to my frame the trip was a success!

A rare family photo where all is smiling...or just squinting against the wind.
Either way I'm counting it as a win.

We went super early because Vanerellian is a drill sergeant and threatened to leave us behind if we were more than 2 minutes late. Actually we wanted to beat the crowds and get only the best strawberries so we clawed our way to being first in the day. We met up with Traceyomama's adorable family there also.

My first impression of the farm is that it was smaller than I expected. Well looks can be deceiving. The people that run it are the sweetest people. I'm already in love with the whole place. They explained the rules to the kids and adults for Strawberry Pickin'. Then we all walked out to the fields, past the goats, the blackberries, and the bee farms. The walk alone is worth the drive to get there.

Saying hello to the goats while Traceyomama was doing...the bunny hop?

When you get to the strawberry fields I was amazed at the number of them! Way more than it looked like from far away. I was expecting the strawberries, with them being organic and all, to not be as pretty as the ones in the stores where they basically spray plastic on them to keep them red and pretty until the end of time. Well. Let me tell you these were gorgeous. Since you get to choose the strawberries you only get the reddest and very best. And they last WAY longer than the ones in the store. Something about this weird "fresh" concept.

A thing of beauty....

Strawberry Fields...forever

The kids did great! They loved it. So did we, probably more than the kids even. Brewerman was in particular mr.perfectstrawberrypicker with his "no stems" and "no blemish" policies. Lil'Dude stayed with him while Lil'Guy and I went off to pick strawberries without the fine print. Lil'Guy didn't really "get" the policy about not eating them since these strawberries aren't washed. Remember the organic piece? Yeah....don't want to eat that organic manure fertilizer, even if it is gluten free, sugar free, and vegan with a side of all natural. However, they do have strawberries that are washed that you get to chow down on afterwards along with some Hansen's All Natural Pop (or soda for all you weirdos out there) that is pretty much Amazingness topped with a dash of phenomenal and a cherry drop of yum-o (no manure added).

But seriously? The kids and I got to pick our own fresh strawberries?? How awesome is that!? They got to see where their food comes from while eating strawberries that are literally red all the way inside and out and the perfect sweetness. I love living here!!

Lil'Dude smile and show me your teeth! Okay...well I guess technically...

Yes I was holding my hair down

Picking only the best

Did I mention how windy it was that day? No? Well they say a picture is worth a thousand words...

The hair...amazing!

Nice. A more vain person wouldn't post this at all but it's too hilarious not to post.
Vampire meets 80's hair.

The world stops when a train comes through. Insert obligatory waving here.

Side note: Totally bragging here but we are starting a Produce CSA soon with this farm and I couldn't be more excited! We have some BIG HUGE OVERWHELMING dietary changes that might be happening soon up in here and it will be a huge help. But that's for another post because frankly it gives me indigestion to think about it right now so I'm blissfully ignoring it with hands in my ears going lalalalalalala until we get into the doctor and they can help. Yes, as a matter of fact I AM stalling.