Strawberry Picking

Today Maggie and I had a girls day. We went strawberry picking. She was so excited and said that "no stinky boys were allowed to go...only girls" (except she says geeeehhls). I wasn't sure what to expect. We went last year and it was a little bit of a headache. Both kids running back and forth, eating strawberries, throwing strawberries, TONS of people, etc. Despite the experience last year I decided it was totally worth it and we would try a different place. What a great thing because we were the ONLY ones there! It was this little strawberry patch in Goshen. I think the season was about over since we were the only ones there but we still found some great strawberries. After we got our box and Maggie's very own little basket, we headed out to the patch. It was so adorable to see how excited she was. She held my hand and we walked out together, Maggie talking the whole way about which way we should go. As we walked the rows looking for strawberries, she would pick one and come running over to me saying, "Oh Mommy! Isn't this a good one???" Sometimes they were good and sometimes they were almost completely white. It didn't matter to me though because she was so excited to find them, how could I tell her it wasn't a good one? As I picked strawberries, I just listened to Maggie talking and saying things like "This one is a little mushy" or "This one is the BIGGEST one yet!" When she found one that wasn't quite good enough she would chuck it across the field. Every once in awhile I would look back and there she was eating a bright red strawberry with juice all over her face. I loved every second of it. It was one of those moments that I realized how special these moments are and how lucky I am to be able to share these moments with my kids. I also realized how important it is to spend time alone with just one child at a time. I was able to just enjoy her little antics and discoveries. She not only had fun picking strawberries but she also had fun chasing butterflies, picking flowers and of course, throwing strawberries! I am so glad we decided to go and I know now that it will be a tradition every year!