Monday, Monday

There's nothing like strawberry picking to make you love Virginia.  It's something I did every year as a little kid; my mom knew the value of child labor (ha ha).  I can remember driving home with pounds and pounds of fruit that she'd turn into jam, ice cream, and pies.

Since Charlie was off yesterday, we decided to drive out to Pungo and spend some time in the sun together, and give Austin his first taste of what I hope will be a long-time family tradition.  Of course, there was the mandatory fueling-up at Chick-Fil-A before we left.

The kid loves nuggets, what can I say?

When we got to the farm, Austin was more interested in the gravel parking lot than the strawberry plants.  It took a little wrangling to get him into the field. 

It's the end of the strawberry season here, and the strawberry festival just finished up on Sunday.  So, there wasn't much to pick.  And it was hot, which is the number one most effective way to turn Austin into a total Crankypants.

Despite repeated demonstration and explanation (because that works so well on a 15 month old kid), Austin didn't quite get how berry picking works.  He kept reaching into his bucket, grabbing a strawberry, taking a bite, and throwing it on the ground.  (Sorry for wasting your fruit, Cullipher Farm!)  

Cute, but not terribly productive.

We still ended up with a couple of pounds of berries and a bag of peaches (oh dear LORD, they're so good!).

Afterwards, we stopped by my mom's house for a visit.  She'd just gotten back from a long bike ride (hence the spandex).  We walked to the playground in her neighborhood and let Austin blow off some steam.  He was REALLY into the tetherball, for some reason.

He also enjoys the swings a lot more now that he can hold himself up.

I really love watching my mom play with him.  It reminds me of what it was like when I was a kid, how she kind of held things together even when times were rough.  Plus, it becomes very clear that my craziness is genetic.

All in all, it was a fantastic day.  I'm so grateful for all the men and women of the armed forces who've sacrificed time with their families, and so much more, to protect our freedom.  So, to all my military peeps out there, THANK YOU!