I'd Pick You Every Time

Picking seasonal fruit is one of our favorite things to do from spring through fall. We don't always get the picking schedules correct (remember our strawberry picking fail?), but we somehow manage to get in what we can and still create memories.

Now that I'm thinking of it, there aren't very many fruits that we all don't enjoy. I am very thankful that getting my boys to eat fruits and vegetables isn't really a struggle. We've tried to teach them that making healthier choices is important and just because it's better for you, doesn't mean it doesn't taste good.

Around here it seems like clockwork every night that the boys get sooo hungry. Anyone else have hungry night time little snackers? Aside from it being a nice little stall tactic (we're on to you, boys), they know that if they want a snack at that time it's either a fruit or a vegetable option. Lucky for them our fruit bowl has been stocked with these delicious peaches that have made some great snacks.

A farm that we've been wanting to checkout was having a family night where their hayrides out to the orchards were free, they had live music, the kids could feed the animals (those goats ate great that night), and they even played a movie out in the fields. It was the perfect mix of family friendly without being overcrowded. Every where we turned we were surrounded by beautiful landscape. Several times I caught myself staring off into the distance as the sun set around us taking in these moments as the boys ran through the peach trees.

The boys were extra cute and so excited to get those juicy peaches. They had a little competition going on to see who could pick the biggest and juiciest peach. They would yell down the rows of trees, "I got the big one!". Of course that seemed to be the phrase after every new pick they found that seemed to be bigger than the last.

I loved seeing how excited they were to fill their bag and how excited they were for the baby to experience his first peach picking. Last year when we went peach picking, and nectarine picking thanks to my pregnancy brain, baby C was still in my belly. It was so special to have him with us now to share in the family fun.

Instead of our little guy actually wanting to pick peaches, he might have been more interested in grabbing onto any and every branch, leaf, or patch of grass he could fit in-between his little fingers. That's ok, though. He sure loves them mashed up and cut up to put into his little teether to suck on. I think it's safe to say he's a peach fan, too.

Sometimes I wonder where my little guys get their goofiness from, and then I have moments like this where the apple (or in this case, the peach) doesn't fall far from the tree. It's also moments like this that make me fall in love with Eric all over again. He's seriously the best dad and always having fun with us. Haha, A's face cracks me up and I can't get enough of looking at these pictures.

Ok, on a random note, I might have specifically gotten this shirt knowing that we were going peach picking. I mean, how could I not, though? At first it was all about the peach fun, and thinking this shirt was really cute, but then it arrived and it was better than I thought it would be. It's a really comfortable tee, which is always a plus in my book, especially when it was super hot out. As you can probably see, towards the end of picking, I was melting. But, hey, real life. Real women sweat ;) I'm wearing this shirt with jean shorts (and a hat of course, and my favorite espadrilles) but I think it will also look cute with distressed jeans, a long cardi for the fall, and booties.

We're still enjoying all of these peaches because picking a few seems impossible with my crew. Would they have it any other way other than to each have their own bag? The answer to that is, no. I keep thinking how we're going to end up with so many more once the baby joins in on the picking. Good thing there is a lot you can do with peaches and my crew doesn't seem to be getting tired of them anytime soon. 

Sweet As A Summer Peach

I have to say, I'm kind of impressed with our picking trips this year and being able to knock so many off our list. Peaches were always something we wanted to get around to picking but it seemed like every summer something would come up and we would miss our window of opportunity. Eric and I love making grilled peaches and my mom makes a tasty peach cobbler, so they will not go to waste around here.

We started our season off strawberry picking and then headed over to a blueberry patch for more sweet berries. We also made our way to a sunflower field and even got to experience picking lavender for the first time. We're thinking about adding pears to our list next year and we still have apple and pumpkin picking to look forward to in a few months.

If you caught my post yesterday then you saw I shared about little nugget's third birthday party. While the weather didn't cooperate that day we did have a break in clouds and some hot sunshine for his actual birthday. It felt like the perfect time to go peach picking.

The boys loved taste testing them and might have had even more fun climbing in the trees in the orchard. They are such little explorers and are always up for jumping, climbing, running, and I guess  well, all those typical boy things.

The night before little nugget got bit by a mosquito near his eye and it started to swell. Poor guy looked like he got clocked in the face. I think from being out in the heat it agitated it a bit and you can see it started flaring up again. We gave him some Benadryl and I am happy to say he is back to looking like himself.

Before we made our way to the peaches was also stopped off and picked some nectarines. I noticed that A is my little copycat. He is so much like me in so many ways and in a lot of ways little nugget is a lot like Eric. It's so interesting to see. I asked Eric to take a picture of me holding the nectarine and after A saw what I was doing he asked me to take one of him just like it.

And of course what fun is picking fruit if you can't play with it and make fruit eyes.

After we got all the nectarines we wanted we made our way up the hill to the peach trees. I was staggering behind because this mama is having a hard time keeping up lately. I let the boys run off ahead of me and knew that I would get there eventually. When I saw Eric walking with the boys I couldn't help but snap a few pics because I had immediate flashbacks from our apple picking tradition and getting a picture of him each year with the boys. I also got a little teary eyed thinking how next year there will be another little one in his arms and at that point he will almost be a year, and my little guy in front of me was now three. Cue all the pregnancy hormones.

When we made our way over to the peach trees there was this calming feeling, it's kind of hard to describe. Maybe it's because it took me a little longer to make it up there but it was a sense of peacefulness. It also looked very different from how the nectarine trees were setup. The view of the rows and looking down at the orchards below was such a pretty sight.

I had to bride the boys with a juice box and told them we could get donuts from the shop for them to actually get out of the tree. Parenting at its finest. I really think they would have stayed there all day if we let them. Seeing them in the open land gets me so excited and I love how much fun they have with the simplest things. Forget about all the toys and gadgets, give them a stick, some rocks, and some trees and they are both happy. Now to eat some tasty peaches and get the line, millions of peaches, peaches for me—out of my head.