Thurs. July 3, 2014 - Strawberries

 On the wagon to the strawberry fields

 Riley was quickly buried in the strawberry plants

 Micaela mostly walked around checked on everyone

 Riley did a fantastic time picking her own quart of berries

 Micaela ate them as fast or faster than she put them in her basket

 Riley enjoyed the strawberry rhubarb pie we made

 Micaela couldn't eat it fast enough with a fork so she just ate it like a sandwich

 Mommy took a phone call during art time, what was I thinking? Rookie mistake.

 Riley has been writing and illustrating her own books lately

 My first attempt at canning strawberry jam. We haven't tasted it but it looks good!

 Making red, white and blue decorations to put on their bikes for the neighborhood bike parade

 Riley knew exactly where she wanted to put all her decorations

 Micaela loves the spinner on her chariot

Daddy conceded to a pinwheel on the bike he'll use to pull Micaela

Strawberry picking is huge in WI. It only lasts a few weeks and they are the most delicious, sweet strawberries so the girls and I always enjoy filling our baskets in the field. This year since I'm not too good at heavy lifting, bending, or anything else these days, we took Daddy along for his first strawberry picking experience. It was a beautiful day and we all had a blast. Riley really did a great job picking this year and filled a quart all by herself. Micaela on the other hand preferred to eat strawberries. She added a few to her basket but then ate them. And then ate some from everyone else's baskets. The plants were packed and we quickly picked almost 30 lbs of strawberries. I've since made a strawberry-rhubarb pie, strawberry jam, strawberry cupcakes, we ate a lot and froze the rest. I love this early summer tradition!