berry, berry fun...

**sigh**

172 strawberries later we are home after such a FUN, FUN day!

we headed out this morning with berries on the brain and made our way to bluemont, virginia...home of the "u pick it" berry farm! i think it was my favorite day to date...except of course when anyone i know comes to visit!!!!!

it was the hottest day recorded for 2008...so we prepared to "sweat for the sweet" but it was SO worth it! great country farms is an organic berry farm with lots to offer the little ones! they have a petting zoo, lots of playground equipment made from old tires, a corn pit (basically a sand box filled with oodles of corn), a fishin' hole, a cow train ride, and lots of other attractions! due to the extreme heat, not all of the festivities were hopping...but we still had a blast!

while we were taking the hay ride to the actual strawberry field in the 100 degree heat...they mentioned that they use no pesticides or chemicals so the berries were "ready to eat" as soon as they were picked! ella got her game face on! madeline would have been double fisting regardless...germs, smerms! she & ella were like kids in a candy store!

price girls + berries = euphoria

at one point, jeffrey and i looked up and madeline was SEVERAL rows away from us - gorging her face with strawberry! it was funny but a bit alarming...it was as though she might not have ever been given these delicious little bundles of red, sweet goodness!!!!!! she was truly a sight to behold! we have NO IDEA how many or how much dirt she actually consumed!!! she seems no worse for the wear...just a little stained and full! word to the wise...

don't wear white to pick strawberries...you might stay cool but you WON'T stay clean!!!!

the strawberries grow on vines very close to the ground and they hide under the leaves. it was so neat to pick them ourselves...knowing we get to come home and make something really yummy! it felt so granola & earthy - I LOVED IT!!!! you may not know, but my secret desire is to be really "crunchy" and go totally organic! (jeffrey said on the way home...if you want to do that you either have to be loaded or have your own farm...here's to wishing!!!!) anyway, ella & i voted that a strawberry ice box pie sounded the best...other than eating them "a la natural"!!!

any recipe ideas would be greatly appreciated!

we are up to our ears in strawberries...but we are awaiting the blackberry season so we can go back and experience that!

our little shortcakes were tuckered out after a hot day in the sun...but we headed across the street to the bluemont vineyard because they said the view was not to be missed...they were correct. in a word - beautiful scenery...we definitely weren't in the city anymore! the girls enjoyed some dancing and then we made our way home!

such a fun day spent with my "berry favorite people"! if only we could have met strawberry shortcake...