Strawberries!

The kids and I went strawberry picking with Britney's grandparents this morning. We went last year too, but only filled up two gallon-sized buckets, which totaled about 10 pounds. When I got home, I realized a good many of them were green because Carter picked anything that would come off of the stem. In reality, our 10 pounds were probably closer to 8 or 9 that we could actually eat, and they only lasted a few weeks.

So, this year we started out with conversations about what kind of strawberries Carter should pick - RED! I also gave each kid their own buckets, and I had 2 flat boxes that Britney's grandpa had given me. I was determined we were going to have a good time and I wasn't going to nag the kids too much about picking just the right berries. It was about the EXPERIENCE for them :)

The kids did great! Carter picked about 1/2 gallon bucket full and Ashlyn's was about 3/4 of the way full. Not too bad for kids picking on the hottest day of the year so far (a cool 88!). I was so proud of them!

I couldn't believe when I got to the check out and our berries weighed in at a whopping 30 pounds!!! So, I spent the afternoon washing, drying and hulling all those strawberries. It took me over 2 hours, but the strawberry shakes, pies, cakes, etc., will be oh so worth it!!!