The Perfect Days of Summer, Part I

After we got back from California, we had one day of beautiful weather ("I love it here! It's the most beautiful place in the world!") and then went into a week of cloudy gloominess... in July ("What kind of place is this? It's July, not January!"). I guess cold and gray weather is never out of the question here in the Northwest, but it still is a little bit depressing-- and unusual, even for here-- in the middle of the summer.

But, the weather finally cleared and we have since had beautifully sunny- even hot- weather. Last Thursday, I wanted to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather, so I took the kids berry picking. One of the things I still can't get over here is how we have local farms and berry picking within a couple miles of our house. We picked raspberries first and then picked blueberries. Jared and Camryn really got into picking blueberries. We kept Jackson happy by giving him a blueberry or two whenever he got fussy. We all had a fabulous time and I finally had to tell them that we needed to go home. (At this point, I saw that one of the older kids had given Jackson some raspberries, which he had thoroughly enjoyed....)

After spending a beautiful afternoon gathering bucketfuls of berries, popping a sample or two in our mouths whenever we needed a pick-me-up, we went home and enjoyed the fruits of our labors. I thought, "These really are the perfect days of summer: the sun is shining, we're having fun together, we're enjoying the outdoors and the bounty of nature. Who needs to worry about the humdrum cares of life when you can just have a perfect day with your kids?" Happy sigh. We spent the evening picking out the perfect recipe for berry tarts and stuffing ourselves silly.