Blueberry Bravery

I had the brilliant idea of taking the girls blueberry picking before the U-pick season ends. I had a hunch that Elisabeth would love the opportunity to pick her own blueberries, but for obvious reasons I had my doubts about Allison. How many 18-month old toddlers can really appreciate the U-pick experience and cooperate long enough to pick some decent berries?

I mentioned my plan to some friends, and most people wished me luck and gave me a look of sympathy. (Or were those looks of pity?) One person suggested that I hire a babysitter and leave Allison at home. A former boss (who is like a mentor to me) even wrote in an e-mail, "You are a brave soul to take both girls blueberry picking. I feel like I should take you under my protective wing and say, do you really know what you are in for?"

I'm proud to stand before all of you today and report that I took both girls blueberry picking today....and survived! Not only that, but we brought home 7 pounds of blueberries. OK, OK, so we only picked 2 pounds ourselves and bought the rest, but hey, that's not too bad considering I had an 18-month old with me!

We got off to a great start and both girls were really into it. Even Allison picked several berries and managed to put them in the bucket.After a while, Allison thought it'd be more fun to sit in the muddy fields and play with the dirt. (Keep in mind that it has rained here this week, so the ground was nice and mushy.) By the time we had been in the fields for about 45-minutes, Allison was lying on the ground, rolling in the mud like a happy little pig. That's when we called it a day and carried our blueberries in to get weighed. I brought home lots of blueberries and two very filthy, muddy girls...but it was worth it. I can't wait to do this again next summer!