Blueberry Pickin' Time!

Every year around this time we head off to the blueberry field! Neal loves blueberries year round...in his oatmeal and in his yogurt. We also enjoy them in smoothies and just to eat when fresh. Today was the day! The opening day at our favorite orchard. It's not the fanciest orchard around, but it has one of the most beautiful settings. It's just so peaceful to drive out there and be surrounded by God's beautiful handiwork while we pick some of the most delicious, sweet candy He created!

Here's a picture of the fields. The white spots are people...


Another shot of the fields


Here's the gang! This group...plus me...picked over 22 lbs of blueberries in an hour!


I ended up bagging 14 quarts!


Aren't they beautiful?!! A lady at the orchard said that opening day is the best day to pick...that's when you can get the biggest, sweetest berries!


Neal made blueberry/banana smoothies for all of us! Yummo!


Here's Ben enjoying his smoothie!


Two of our friends are staying with us right now. This is Jamie.


And here's Raven!


Every year we have a contest when we pick berries. We split into teams and see who can pick the most. This year the teams consisted of: Ben and Raven, Beth and Jamie and Mom and I. Mom and I do it for the fun of it, but we don't win the prize. This year's prize was (drum roll please...) a whopping $2.00! Yes, you heard that correctly, I dished out an entire two dollars to the winning team! You wouldn't believe how hard they worked for that $2.00 either!

This year's winner was the team of Raven and Ben!!! They picked around 7 1/2 lbs! WooHoo!! Afterward they were whispering and giggling, and said they had a secret. When they got home they presented Jamie and Beth with their winnings! I thought that was so sweet! It was Raven's idea, and I was very proud of her!

It's so easy to make a "task" a fun outing! The kids will always remember it.