"berry peachy"...

there is something SO organic about picking your own fruit and vegetables...and i LOVE it! we decided to go blackberry picking yesterday. jeffrey found a farm located in delaplane, virginia (about an hour from where we live)...and we set out to get some berries! this farm is nestled in the blue ridge mountains and the "vistas" and scenery were absolutely gorgeous! in typical "meredith & jeffrey" fashion...we took the back roads and spent the whole time saying "look at that"..."oh my word, look at that view"...it was great! even ella was saying "this drive is so beautiful"!

when we arrived at hollin farm, we discovered that there was also a "pick your own peaches" orchard, pick your own corn, AND pick your own tomatoes!!!!!! i was certainly in hog heaven!

we started out amongst the blackberry bushes. you really have to search for the ripe berries because there are lots of red ones that are not ready! unlike the strawberry picking where all the fruit was "ready to eat"...many of the blackberries were REALLY sour...and maddie had NO idea! she did not understand that the red ones needed to wait to be picked! the pictures of her "sour face" are priceless!!!! after we gathered two pints...we headed to the peaches!

what fun! once again, some of the peaches were not ripe yet so we really had to search for the perfect fruits! some of our "picking crew" were feeling less than enthusiastic at this point. maddie was eating lots of fallen fruit (evidenced by her delightful diaper later in the evening) and ella's legs were beginning to feel like jello (evidenced by her collapse amongst the heirloom tomatoes)!!!!! we picked our bag full and headed to our next stop...tomatoes!

tomatoes must have been a hot item because there were plenty of green ones available...not so many red ones! well, as jeffrey is combing the vines...ella begins to have a mental and physical breakdown! she got "trapped" by a plant - freaked out - and basically allowed her legs to crumble beneath her! of course, this caused her legs to get dirty which led to more "melting". it was really funny...and only when the thought of not being able to eat ice cream later was thrown on the table...was she able to regain her composure and pick some corn!!!!!!

if only i had been able to capture that "ever so cute" pic of my children peeking out from the corn stalks...i would have been so happy! that did not happen, however. my children at this point were hot. the fun of picking your own food had worn off back in the peach orchard. as a mommy, we have to know when the camera needs to go back in the "holster"...and big guns need to be used - in this case - ritz crackers and gatorade. everyone's smiles returned quickly and we made our way to middleburg. a quaint little town that was having a bluegrass concert on main street.

we ate dinner outside at a cute little place called "red horse tavern". the girls were excited about getting to dance...and dance they did! ella plopped herself right down in the middle of one family's picnic - she never meets strangers of course! we walked around the little town looking in the windows of all the cute shops..."lulu's tutus", "mellow out" (a homemade marshmellow dessert shop", "the french hound". definitely a place that would be fun to go back to for some "grown up" shopping!!!!!

it was a great saturday spent with the family! now i am trying to seek out the best blackberry cobbler recipe...because that is the most fun part about having all this fresh fruit...making something yummy!

when asked if ella would like to live on a farm, she replied "yes"...long pause..."no not really"! i think she definitely appreciates the fact that we don't have to pick our own food on a daily basis...

as for me, i love these experiences with the other three prices...even if two out of the three would like to be escorted with air conditioned wagons stocked with plenty of snacks...i wouldn't trade 'em for the world!!!!!!