Blueberry Hill

One of the fun things about Alex’s tennis camp is we get to drive down our favorite road on the way there. We live in a very suburban area, but right beyond the boundaries of our neighborhood, the area is very rural. So rural in fact, we can hear cows bellowing nearly every morning. The road we take to tennis winds through the “country” and at certain point is draped in a canopy of trees. It’s just a very peaceful drive.

Along our route we pass the berry farm where the kids and I normally pick strawberries. I’ve had some excuse the majority of the summer. It’s been too hot, then too cold, and lately, too rainy. After tennis today, it was none of those things and Brandon was working from home, which means it’s just easier if the kids and I can find something to do. We came home from tennis, put on picking clothes, and the kids grabbed their rubber boots. We got to the berry patch to learn we were a week late to pick strawberries, but we could pick blueberries. We were all really excited. The kids just wanted to pick something and blueberries are certainly easier to pick.

They sent us out to the patch. We got there shortly after they opened, so we were the lone pickers. We picked a bush or two and I kept commenting on the bird sounds we were hearing. I’m no ornithologist, but this one was weird. I kept an eye on the sky to see if I could spot what was making the noise. I was half afraid it was something large enough to swoop down and make off with one of my children. Alex was on the lookout too.

We made our way down the line of blueberry bushes, with Meredith eating every third berry to “make sure it was ripe.” We stopped at a bush and then the bird got really loud and his yells were more frequent. I set down my basket and squinted to see if I could find the bird. The guy running a tractor across the patch from us noticed me looking for the bird and smiled and waved. About that time, I noticed a speaker next to my foot. I quickly figured out it was a fake bird call, it was motion activated, and I’m more of a city slicker than I thought.

We picked two pounds. Within 20 minutes of being home, we were down to one.

Oh, and we lost Meredith’s four inch tall plastic Prince Charming. She was really sad, but was warned about the pitfalls of bring Charlie along for the ride. The berry patch lady put a sign on their bulletin board that said, “Meredith Webber, lost Prince Charming,” along with our phone number. I’m thankful we have caller id.

After berry picking we went to the pool. Again, the forcast called for rain, but I thought we could get an hour or so in. We were at the pool with our neighbors yesterday for a good three hours. Meredith was the only girl and Alex wasn’t about to wear water wings in front of the boys. He swam all day without them and did the same today. We’re a little water logged, but they sleep well and that’s always my motive.

Brandon finished work a little early and we went to see a movie. We’ve waited on WALL-E for awhile, so the kids were really excited. I was excited to take along my refillable popcorn bucket. I’m really 68.

The movie is really cute and provides several teachable moments. I’m sure both the kids will talk like robots for the rest of the summer. Too bad their batteries never run down.