Summer Of Fridays, 1st Installment

I have managed my time off at work in such a way that I have most every Friday off this summer. Last summer was laden with guilt at cajoling our children out of bed early in the morning, making them go to bed in broad daylight, and dropping them off at a program they didn't want to go to. I was committed to having a better summer this year, starting with only four days of a structured program. So this is the first in many installments documenting our summer of Fridays.

While I had last Friday off, it didn't feel much like it, since we spent the day doing laundry and packing to head to Tracy for the weekend. So yesterday definitely felt like the first Friday off of the summer. 



Lindsey's ready to empty her container and keep picking.

I planned a strawberry picking outing and we headed out with Lindsey's friend Emma and her mom, Cassie. We couldn't have chosen a better day. It was beautiful, not a cloud in the sky, with temps in the mid-70s.

Marissa's little container probably never had more than 3 berries in it; she would collect a few, show me how pretty they were and then eat them one by one.

Marissa shows one of her picks.





Lindsey and Emma get down to business.

Lindsey and Emma appeared to be in a berry picking race, going up and down the rows and picking the easiest berries, filling their containers and running them back to Cassie and I to dump into our larger trays. We gathered enough we pronounced the group done, and headed a mile down the road to the St. Croix Bluffs Park to enjoy our picnic lunch that we had packed. This was a beautiful park with a great picnic area, lots of trails, a playground and -- best of all -- nice facilities.

We ate, the girls played on the playground, and we headed back in the afternoon. I processed most of the berries for freezing, gave some to our neighbors and made homemade strawberry shortcake for dessert.

And it's only Saturday. I'm so thrilled.

Pick one, eat one, pick one, eat one...