Strawberry Picking

So even though it is February and it should be freezing outside, it's not. Here in Charleston it has been unbelievably beautiful lately - like, sunny and 75 degrees beautiful. And, because of that, the local farm that we use for our CSA has already opened their u-pick strawberries for this season. Score!

Saturday afternoon we loaded up the boys and headed to the farm to collect as many berries as we could carry. Which turned out to be a lot.

Family outings like these are so fun for us, mostly because they give such good insight into the personalities of our children. Saturday was no exception. Wes and I got a huge kick out of watching how the boys had such different reactions to the same situation.

Noah enjoyed picking strawberries - that he refuses to eat by the way - BUT did not really enjoy how dirty it was. (I'm not sure what he thought happened on a farm, but this is the same kid who once saw a cow in a field and declared it to be a horse.) Anyway, he was very reluctant to bend down anywhere near the dirt and touch the strawberry plants. Any berry that ended up in his bucket was most likely pulled by me. I think the following picture was the only time that he even attempted to get one himself.

As soon as his bucket was about halfway full he declared it to be too heavy. "I can't carry it anymore guys. I have a 'crankle' in my hand!" (I'm assuming that means a hand cramp?) And then the fact that his shoes were dirty completely distracted him from anymore berry picking and he spent the rest of the time asking if we could just go to the mall and get a new pair of shoes.

Liam on the other hand could not get enough of the dirt and grime. He kept grabbing at berry after berry and trying to rip even the green ones off the stem to fill his bucket. Then he insisted on carrying not one but two buckets and when Wes tried to help him he clutched them tighter and yelled, "No! My cups!" 

He also kept trying to sneak berries into his mouth. I would turn around and he would have one halfway to his mouth, and when he realized he was caught he would smile mischievously. And while Noah was in panic mode about his ruined shoes Liam was literally crouching in a ditch digging holes in the mud and throwing dirt in the air. And then rolling around in it. Seriously.

So to sum up: Next time, Noah will wear a Hazmat suit, we will bring a portable shower for Liam to use before entering our car, and.... Six pounds of strawberries is a lot for one family to eat!