Strawberry Fields

As a mother, there are certain things I have always dreamed about doing with my kids. 

During the years we were trying so desperately to have kids, I would daydream about doing things like taking my kids to the beach, or picking pumpkins. 

A bucket list of sorts, with activities I envisioned doing with my kids someday. 

My list included: 

Taking the kids to Disney world. (I can check that off my list, except Lil Miss didn't go so we are going to have to go back again!)

Watching the kids splash in the Ocean for the first time. 

Seeing the landscape of Yellowstone. 

Sharing an ice cream cone. (we have checked this off more times than I can count) 

And picking strawberries in a strawberry field. 

Today, we checked this one off of my imaginary list. 

Picture Perfect!   

 The kids were great strawberry pickers.  Lil Miss enjoyed picking them off the plant and then contemplating whether to put it in her basket or her mouth.  

My little farmers.  

Proud of their loot.  

Lil Miss's basket is filled with half eaten strawberries she was keeping for later.  

LATER -- mommy found them.  LOL  

Oh they couldn't wait to get home to eat more.  

For lunch we had strawberry milkshakes and for supper we made a fresh strawberry pie.  

I let the kids browse the strawberry section on pinterest and they have come up with a few new recipes to try.  Their mouths were watering looking at all the yummy strawberry desserts. 

We ended up with 8.5 lbs of strawberries. 

I am interested how long they will last.  

Any bets? 

So many years I would think about picking strawberries, but I was either too late or couldn't find a place close enough to us.  This year I was so happy to finally do this.  Its going to become a yearly tradition.  As perfect as it was in my dreams.... it doesn't always work out like that.  Any activity my kids can eat while doing it, is a winner to my kids!  

What are some of the activities you dream of doing with your children? 

Fairies Welcome

A week or so ago I mentioned that we made a fairy garden. 

Nate should never send me to the garden nursery.  I don't need an invitation to buy more plants, but he did and the rest is history. 

 

It all started with this cool container of "lost things" that Bubba found. 

We had watched Tinkerbell the night before and the gold metal objects in the jar were pretty cool.  I picked up the jar and pondered what we could do with this neat collection of things and made a executive decision (easy when Nate isn't there) to make an indoor fairy garden. 

I had plans to put a small "kid" garden in the backyard this spring with unique things and maybe a few fairy items, but I just couldn't wait.  After putting the jar of lost things in our cart, we went to go look at the large fairy garden section in the greenhouse.  I already had a pot at home in mind for the fairy garden so all we needed were a few unique plants.  Bubba picked out three small plants after a little coaxing from me on what not to pick and then he got to pick one fairy item.  He chose a delicate looking metal chair for our fairies. 

 

Here are the supplies we used for the fairy garden:

A shallow pot (already had at home)

potting soil (indoor potting soil is best)

plants (we chose some succulents which don't need much water)

Rocks

Lost things

 

When choosing plants you would want to think of heights, textures, and colors. 

I tried to guide Bubba to different colors of plants but he didn't like them so at least we got different heights and textures somewhat.

 

 With help from the kids we put the plants in the pot with potting soil first.  We moistened the soil and added a little more soil so the plants wouldn't move around.  

The pot should not be drenched with water all the time.  I water the fairy garden when the soil is completely dry and don't use alot of water when I water.  Succulents are dessert plants so they like arid soil, not wet moist soil all the time.

Even the two year old was involved.  

 Then comes the fun part.  We place the rocks over the soil to create a kind of "floor" for the fairies. 

The kids didn't want to see any of the dirt. 

Then we took the lost things and placed them around the pot for Tinkerbell to find. 

The little chair was put in the pot too, perfect for Tinkerbell to take a rest. 

The kids have added a screw and a few of grandma Aggie's buttons to the pot too. 

They had a whole discussion about how the fairies are going to get in the house with all the doors closed and windows shut, but I love seeing them use their imaginations. 

 

So that is our fairy garden.  It is very small.... just like the fairies.