We made an "on the whim" decision to take the girls Blueberry picking last weekend and I'm so glad we did- it was so fun!
It was a beautiful day and I wanted to do something different than going to the pool like we have been, so I proposed the idea to my husband. We live just a few miles from the orchard and we go there for peaches and apples too...I think I lured my husband in with acknowledging their homemade apple cider donuts were there waiting for him!
We went to Solebury Orchards, a local farm that sprawls across 80 acres of our beautiful part of Bucks County. If you haven't been, you should go! They have a little market with fresh fruits and veggies, along with fresh applesauce, juice and fruit butters! They have pick your own flowers too!
Bryn and Liv were so excited when we got there. As usual, the baby hung out in the stroller and just went with the flow as we walked the fields to get to where the "ready to pick" blueberries were. The girls are so sweet and I had to snap shots of them walking together <3
We had to explain a few rules to the girls to start off:
1- Only pick the Dark Blue colored berries-Green berries aren't ready to be picked
2- No pulling the branches off the bushes...blueberries only!! (aimed at my little cherub, Livia)
3- Don't eat handfuls of blueberries from your berry container- that's stealing : )
We MAY or may not have had to re-iterate some of those rules 17 times in the 30 minutes that we were out there in the field, but everyone was having fun, partaking and laughing, so I considered it a win. There weren't too many people there at the same time we were, which was good since we had first timers and a baby tagging along in the stroller. But those that were, were mostly families-I thought that was really cool! It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and families of all ages were there, together, spending quality time with each other. Moms and dads with babies, young kids, middle-school aged cousins and even grandparents were picking boxes full! I can only assume they were bringing them home to make jam or baked goods with their pickings : ) I think I may try making jam next time!
I promised the girls we could make blueberry muffins with some of the berries- so they kept asking me if they had enough, so we could go home and start baking. As the girls and I picked, Tom pushed the baby behind in the stroller. I think those two (Tom and Delaney) were just there for the donuts though (haha)! After we picked for about 30 minutes, the girls started saying that they were hot and wanted to leave. We decided we would head to the market to pay for the berries and buy them apple cider donuts, which the orchard is known for.
Tom scouted out a spot to sit under a tree and let them pig out for their hard work!
{Sidenote- I absolutely love their little farm market on the property- it's so cute and I'm pretty sure I would move in and live there!}
We found a nice shady spot, got the baby out of her stroller, and sat under the tree and people-watched. I could have done that for hours! The girls finished their donuts and anxiously awaited getting home to bake...so we packed up and headed home with our hard-work in hand. I had to take the girls containers from them in the car, because I was afraid they would eat all of their blueberries and none would be left when we got home!
All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend Sunday as a family. I'm so glad we have been trying different things with the girls this summer, and letting them experience fun, new activities that our local area has to offer during the summer. They are already talking about apple picking, which we do each September! Hopefully, they are better at following our rules by then...
