Fun with friends

Our unusually hot weather has brought blueberry season a bit early, but I don't care.  I love, love, love blueberries.  There is an organic blueberry farm not far from me.  The bushes have been there since before the owner can remember.  She calls them "vintage".   This is my third year going there, and I've yet to be disappointed.  Did I mention that I love blueberries? 

 

Of all the berries, blueberries are my favorite berry to pick.  They are easy and my allergies don't seem to give me as much trouble either.

This day was the owner's first day to open the farm for the season.  The weather man promised it would be a H.O.T. day.  I packed along water bottles for everyone along with a 5 gallon water cooler (the kind with the spigot) filled with ice water for refills, and slathered the kids in sunscreen.

My pickers did a great job at locating bushes full of berries . . . and then tasting them to sure they were good. :-)

Milk jugs with the tops cut off make for great buckets with handles. 

Dan and I don't like to wear them around our neck because of the spiders.  I just hold with one hand and coax the berries into the container with the other.

It's always so fun if you can go with friends.  We talk, and pick, and laugh, and eat...and sweat!  Here is the hot and tired bunch...very thankful for some shade.

I didn't really go with a goal of a certain amount to come home with.  I could have picked a bit longer, but the younger kids were melting and then I heard the ... " Mommy, I have to go potty."  What did I expect with all that water?  We called it good, and we ended up with 26 lbs.

Even though it was super hot, they had fun together.
(These girls are FUN!)

We considered doing a brown-bag lunch together, but instead we invited our friends to follow us home to enjoy waffles with whip and blueberry sauce.   Because - it's tradition!

Hannah had made the waffle batter before we left.  I whipped up this super easy blueberry syrup when got home.  Friends supplied the whip.  (See my post here for the waffle recipe and here for the syrup recipe.)

I totally forgot to take a picture of the perfectly toasty, light-brown waffles, glistening with blueberry sauce dripping down the sides, with the scrumptious dollop of whipped cream right in the center of it all.

Because they didn't last long enough.  Look at the smiles of our littlest Friend! 

I'd say he loves loves loves blueberries just like me!