We discussed all sorts of possibilities for what we could do while we were up there and one of the ideas that stuck was going berry picking. Carissa loves to pick and freeze (as well as can) fruit during the summer. Of course, Julie and I are old pros from our childhood days. So, Friday morning we were off to the fields for some fruit!
The first farm we went to (for raspberries) we generously described as 'sketchy' :) Our hand drawn map to the berry location included us finding a walnut tree and a fence. That sort of thing.
Once we found the picking location (try #3) we had a great time in the bushes.
Ryan was a real trooper. He love wandering around. But, the bushes are a bit prickly so he had to be careful.
One of the cool sights we saw while we were picking was this bird's nest nestled into the branches of one of the raspberry bushes. There are about 6-8 babies inside there. Check out #3 calling for security as we invaded his bedroom.
Joel was enjoying the picking as well.
Between locations we stopped in a little town outside Salem for lunch. When we were leaving for some blueberry picking we noticed there were some deer in the sideyard of one of the houses. I jumped out of the car with my camera and snapped a couple pictures as Mr. Deer and a couple of his kids beat a retreat into the backyard.
Next we were off to blueberry and cherry picking at a second self-pick farm. This particular farm was a beautiful, well maintained farm location atop a hill overlooking parts of the Willamette Valley. It was a gorgeous location to spend an afternoon.
Here's Joel and Carissa hard at work in the fields.
Here's Joel finding the perfect blueberry. Sorry, Jon, you couldn't be there. You would have loved it ;)
We picked almost a complete flat of blueberries while Julie got to play with Ryan (that's why you didn't see any pictures of her pickin!). The results: Yummy!
Saturday Joel and Carissa wanted to take in the latest Harry Potter movie so Grandma and Grandpa got to take Ryan to his favorite park to play for a couple hours! Sweet!
We've never been to the park with him, so it was fun to explore the different stuff there and see Ryan's reaction to it. For instance, he *really* liked the swings. He not only loved hanging on and being pushed back and forth - but he loved having me catch his feet and hold him for a couple seconds before releasing him to keep going. He giggled so much.
He also loved the little tunnels and climbing aparatus!
And he absolutely has a blast with steering wheels! He bee-lined it straight for these and had a blast pretending he was a Nascar driver.
However, he wasn't as sure about the water features. You see, they go on and off at random times. So, it is easy to get shot with a blast of cold water when you are least expecting it. Tremendous fun if you are 4 or 5 years old. Those kids were squeeling and having a blast. But, Ryan was a bit more tentative ;) I think he will grow in love for this one over the years.
He did like the green fence!
Here's a couple random pictures I took at the dining room table.
We had a great time visiting. It's fun and rewarding to see TH2 growing and thriving.
Can't wait to go back!
4 comments:
Looks like a lot of fun! Ryan is getting so big!
I think everyone should know that padre pulled the Jeep up onto the sidewalk in order to "park" so he could jump out to take the pictures of the deer. He even assumed the photag's pose. I would have snapped a shot of his exploits, but he was too elusive for me.
Family memories over blueberry picking!...it doesn't get better than that!!
What great pictures and I love that you share your precious family with us, so what's going on? Not one post in September yet. Hope everything's okay out their in CA.
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