Black and blue blueberries

So you've probably gathered that I'm a big fan of berries of all kinds, especially ones that I can pick myself. And now that Hayden's old enough to walk around and such, I'm training her to be a berry fiend. She passed her tests admirably with strawberry picking. Now that it's later on in the summer, we've moved on to blueberries and blackberries.

When my mom visited over Hayden's birthday, we went up to pick blueberries at this farm about 20 minutes from us that we have visited in previous summers. They have the BEST berries, huge and delicious. We have to pick in the evening so we hurried out there as soon as we were allowed. Hayden did a great job. I showed her which ones to pick - blue, not green, berries. And we brought her own bucket for carrying them.


She started out strong, picking them and putting them in her bucket. But once she got about 20-30 berries, she lost interest. She proceeded to eat all the berries out of her bucket and then started eating them straight from the bush. Then she wandered around the bushes asking to be picked up; even at 7 months pregnant, I still managed to have her on my back for a little while so she could get some mommy time. She also played in the dirt, played with a cat that wandered through, and played peekaboo through the bushes.

All in all, she managed to occupy herself pretty well so that we got a pretty good haul but I can't say that she contributed much to our blueberry picking. But I think she had a good time and she REALLY liked eating all the blueberries!

Yesterday, I decided it was late enough in the summer to go on a wild blackberry hunt. There's a spot in our neighborhood that has a lot of bushes so I thought we'd go check it out. Turns out blackberry picking isn't really all that toddler-friendly. The path under power lines was overgrown, buggy and blackberry bushes are prickly! But Hayden did a great job of just watching while I hunted down some berries for her. As long as I gave her a berry to eat every once in a while, she was really very patient. Towards the end, as she saw my little tupperware filling up, she got more adament about asking for more "black blueberries" to the point that she just kind of grunted at me and resorted to vigorously signing "more." After about 10 minutes, we had about a cup or two of berries, so we headed back to the stroller and proceeded on our walk around the block. Hayden really enjoyed the berries she got to snack on - you can see her berry mouth!

Ponytails

It's time for bed, but I just have to do a quick little post. When I arrived at school to pick Hayden up, she had a surprise for me. "PONIES" Ponies you say? Yep, check out the picture below (taken at home). SO CUTE!!!

She looks so much older I think, like a regular little kid, rather than one just in the middle of toddlerhood, especially in this picture.
Apparently they put pigtails in the hair of another little girl at school and Hayden thought they were neat. Though she seemed a little dubious when her teachers offered to put them in her hair, she let them (she won't let me come near her with a barrette!) and even kept them in for over an hour. She even let me fix them when they started coming out. I loved that she called them "ponies" and was quite proud of them, telling Jason all about her ponies as soon as he came home from work. We just had to take pictures, and I just had to share them with you! Enjoy!

Art Festivals Galore

I'm still trying to catch up on the memorable events of the summer, so this time, let's head back to Hayden's birthday weekend for the big summertime event of State College. No I'm not talking about the incredible fireworks display - I already covered that. This time I'm talking about the art festivals and all their crafty, crowded, yummy, music-playing glory.

With Grammy and Granddad in town, we decided to hit both the art festival in State College and the art festival in Boalsburg so as to expose them to the fun times that are summer art fest week. We went to the downtown festival first. Somehow, and I'm still not sure how this worked so well, I managed to pick up Hayden from school, find a parking spot and easily meet up with Jason and his parents on Friday afternoon, one of the biggest days of the festival. Hayden was willing to sit in the stroller and we headed to the Italian Street Painting display first. Hayden wasn't particularly taken with the art; Grammy's charm bracelet was much more interesting.

Perhaps if we had bought her a square to decorate with pastels, she might have been more intrigued. But since her coloring skills consist of a few lines that do not stay in assigned areas, I think we'll save that activity for another year. She and Granddad also did not quite get the interactive art parts either - if done correctly, you can take a picture of someone eating the ice cream cone. But it's hard to convince a two year old, in a stroller, to pretend to lick thin air. Oh well - you still get to see the ice cream cone!
We then wandered around the booths and such, not really stopping for anything in particular, just taking in the sights. Hayden was intrigued by the water play area for kids where buckets of water fall from the sky, but since she barely wanted to walk through the separate misting booth, I'm not sure she's ready for the water area yet either. So many things to look forward to! Eventually we ended up near central parklet and Hayden pointed out the soccer field where Daddy plays to Grammy and Granddad. We also saw the sand sculpture in progress and tried some kettle corn. Hayden wanted out of the stroller by this time, and we let her explore the giant metal art booth, with close monitoring so no person or art got hurt.

With a bribe of more kettle corn, we got Hayden back into the stroller and began the long trek back to the car, stopping to pick up some Thai food for dinner. (it was tasty!). We had a quiet evening and headed to bed at a reasonable hour.

The next day it was time for my favorite festival- the People's Choice Festival in Boalsburg! Why is it my favorite? Well, first, it's on grass, not downtown streets. There's more space to roam around and you can move out of the crowds. The food is clumped in one location with LOTS of tables near by for sitting. The art is more affordable and more to my interest than what you find at the downtown festival. I'll admit it did take us a few years to finally make it to People's Choice but I was so happy when we did! It reminds me a little bit of the Festival for the Eno in Durham, NC which is one of my all-time favorite summer festivals.

So anyway, we packed up supplies and headed out in the morning ready for fun. I'd heard there was a children's area in the middle (generally the art booths are laid out in a BIG circle on this big open grassy area by the military museum) with lots of stuff to interest kids. There was a train ride too, and of course, yummy food to look forward to. We partook of EVERYTHING and I tried to take plenty of pictures for documenting. I'll put them in here in smaller form, to save a little space, but I think if you click on them, you can check them out in a bigger size.

Hayden checks out the bouncy tent - again something else for her to look forward to. She loved watching the kids inside, but didn't really want to join them.
The first activity we explored in the activity tent. Searching through tiny pebbles for special seashell treasures. Hayden took everything I found and showed her, and put it in the big conch shell. Hayden, Daddy, and Grammy figure out how to make the ball circle around the funnel. Let's just say that Daddy and Grammy figured it out quick, Hayden still has some learning to do. But she was really good at just dropping it in the hole!
Hayden scoops some sort of grain at one of her favorite stations. Scooping and pouring are at the top of her favorite repetitive activities list!Hayden and Daddy play with the Zen garden. Soon, Hayden was joined by Noah!

After play time in the activity tent, it was time for food! It was a hard choice, but we all managed to pick some yummy items to sample. Jason had barbecue, I had a gyro, Grammy and Granddad had crepes. Hayden ate a whole piece of cheese pizza at her selection. (It makes me so happy when she chooses a food at something like this AND eats it. I consider that an amazing feat for a toddler!) We even managed to find a table where all of us, including Noah, Mandy and Scott, could all sit down and eat. After eating lunch, Hayden, Noah and Grammy went one tent over to listen to the band that was playing, while Jason and I went to secure dessert. I hear there was lots of dancing involved; Noah especially had a good time! I made it back in time to see a little bit of dancing, and some enthusiastic clapping.

But after some picture taking, I had to get back to my dessert: fried oreos, funnel cake and a strawberry smoothie. I'll chalk this up to pregnancy cravings, but I probably would have wanted this even if I wasn't pregnant. After all, there are only so many times you can get a funnel cake, fried oreos are just TERRIFIC, and with all that warm food, you need something cold to wash it down with! For the record, I was fully intending to share all three options with whoever wanted some - all that dessert was not just for me!

funnel cake oreos

Hayden ended up trying just a tiny taste of funnel cake and then she was taken off for an ice cream cone with Grammy and Granddad. Check out these pics and tell me if you think she enjoyed it!



It was about time to head home after we finished lunch. We checked out some more of the booths, and Grammy and Hayden tried out the train.
We managed to get back to the car and on the road just before a big storm rolled through. I think everyone took a good long nap when we got back to the house. I did anyway, and Hayden did too! What a great way to spend a summer Saturday - festivaling! And the next day was Hayden's birthday, so all in all, it was a GREAT weekend!

Local Veggies

Last entry was about Hayden's birthday - July 12th. This one will take us back to June 13th. So get your time machine started up and come along! :)

I think I've mentioned previously that we are part of a farm share (CSA) program this summer with Mandy and Scott. (for those of you unfamiliar with a CSA or farm share, basically we pay a set amount at the beginning of the summer, and then we are provided with seasonal veggies on a weekly basis for a certain amount of time. Ours goes from late May to early November. What's available varies according to the time of year. Our most recent box (which we got yesterday) had cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, eggplant, a melon, hot peppers, basil, parsley, onions and kale. Quite the assortment!

Back in June, we were invited to their Strawberry Festival, where anyone who's a member can come, participate in a potluck dinner, pick strawberries, and get to know the farm a little better. Never one to pass up an opportunity to pick strawberries (or a potluck for that matter), I signed us up and got Mandy and Scott to join us too. We weren't quite sure what to expect going in to the event - having never been to the farm, seeing their instructions about what to bring (a hot AND cold dish, your own plates/utensils!, shoes for mud, etc). And there was a bit of a worry about to bring to the potluck of a farm share.

• Can you use non-local ingredients that are out of season?
• Would bringing Cheetos or KFC be completely inappropriate?
• How do you bring a hot and cold dish but the meal time wasn't scheduled till 2 hours after the 'start' of the festival?
• What if it's rainy? The weather the week before was SO wet.

Despite all these questions, we managed to pack up all appropriate supplies, including chocolate banana bread and asian pasta salad as our food contributions, and follow the directions to the farm.

Views of the farm

It turned out to be a lot of fun and I'm glad we didn't chicken out. We didn't make it in time for the offical strawberry picking - toddler naps just don't end according to other people's plans. :) But we got there in time to set up a blanket for eating, walk around and check out the creek and then participate in the eating. It was the most healthy potluck I've ever seen! So many homemade dishes with fresh veggies. Jason and Hayden especially enjoyed the strawberry rhubarb ice cream sundae option. After dinner, we went on a hayride tour of the farm and learned so much about our little veggie farm. After the hayride, we wandered over to pick some strawberries (each family got a free pint), and then packed up and headed home. A busy afternoon/evening but we had a good time. We took lots of pictures, which I'll narrate below.

Hayden making a silly face in front of the offical farm truck.

Hayden and Jason enjoying the ice cream sundae dessert option.

The farm had someone come around taking pictures of everyone. Hayden and I were exploring the creek when they first came around, hence the picture of Jason alone. (no wonder he's smiling!) But they got me and Hayden too. And what's funny, is when I clicked on their website shortly after the festival, there was the picture of me and Hayden smiling at me!

Hayden throwing a rock into the creek.
She thinks tossing rocks (and hearing the kerplunk sound) is great!

Hayden and the tractor that took us on a hayride farm tour. Strangely, neither Hayden or Noah wanted to get on the hayride. It was a bit embarassing having both of them fuss as we tried to sit down and get settled, but once it got going, I think they liked it!

The tour! We took lots of pictures, but since they aren't quite the same as actually being there, I'll try to just share a few highlights. :) We got to see the asparagus fields - some were already being let go, others were still growing asparagus. It really is just stalks sticking up out of the ground - crazy!

heading out on the hayride, notice how Hayden and Noah are still pretty serious looking

the asparagus...

the asparagus field - the feathery stuff is the asparagus that has been let growmy favorite part - the blueberry bushes!
Though it turns out, our CSA gets their blueberries from another farm. Because they are organic, they can sell their organic blueberries at ridiculous prices (like $70/flat!) in other markets like DC.

Jason's favorite part - the raspberry bushes. Hopefully we'll be getting some soon!A family photo on the hayride! Hayden and I being silly on the hayride. She's making her "cheese!" face.
Hayden bringing her bucket for strawberry picking after the hayride.

Noah and Hayden get a daddy-ride back to the cars after strawberry picking.
I don't know if they liked the hayride or daddyride better! I'm just happy that after several hours outside in a new place, everyone is still smiling!

So one of the coolest things (as long as I don't think about it too much) is that we got to see some chickens on the hayride. They are kept in this moveable pen, that they rotate around the field to let the chickens live in a pasture and to fertilize the field. These chickens were actually pointed out to us as ones that would be available for purchase in a couple weeks. That's right - fresh pasture-raised chickens for eating. Can't get more fresh and local than that! (another cool thing about our farm is the 'extras' you can order and purchase each week - local meat, additional blueberries, cheese, olive oil, etc ). So we bought one, and roasted it. and it was DELISH! I can't say for sure that it was that much better than a regular chicken since we don't roast chickens all that often. But it was tasty. Even Hayden, who hasn't been eating too much meat lately, kept asking for more chicken. And ate leftovers the next day! Yum!

The moveable chicken coop (it's on wheels!)

Our chicken, prior to roasting.
(Check out our new roasting pan - it might be a little bit big for our cute little chicken.
Thanks Granddad and Grammy for the pan!) The finished product! It really was delicious!

Well, that's my introduction to our CSA. We really enjoy doing it. Thanks Mandy and Scott for splitting with us. (there's no way we could eat all the veggies in a share by ourself). You can tell we had a good time at the strawberry festival, since this family photo was taken right before we headed home. Eat fresh, eat local! :)