Field trip: Berry Patch Farms

Have I mentioned I love homeschooling?

Well, I do.  For many, many reasons.  Which I will probably blather on about here for as long as we are homeschoolers.

One of the best parts of homeschooling is getting to do things as a family, incorporating all the kids into activities regardless of their age.  Field trips for example can be a family affair that include my three-year-old and baby.  Not only is this super convenient, but I have a philosophical issue with age segregation and its general effect on families and sibling dynamics.  A really great book is Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers.  So, so good.  (And the book itself is not a homeschooling or religious book--it's written by two psychiatrists.)

We are part of a homeschool group and recently went on a field trip to a berry farm.  We met up for a picnic lunch, then took a hayride out to the fields to pick (and eat) raspberries, then went and listened to a presentation on honeybees, then visited the little store where I bought fresh (as in, still warm!) roasted green chiles, and all the farm fresh makings for salsa.  Which I made the other day and it is SO YUMMY!  I used the chiles in a chille relleno type dish that was super good too.

The kids of course loved the farm.  Well, except for the part where they got all muddy...it's a long story...but let's just say that my six year old had a complete meltdown because she sunk in the mud and got stuck and her shoes (as were mine, and Kaitlyn's, and Yosef's, and Biniam's) were a complete disaster.  As frustrating and annoying as it is to have your first grade daughter shrieking and crying, I could honestly relate.  I felt like doing the same thing. 

Because we are such city people.  We really are.  I honestly don't mind if my kids get dirty or whatever, but NOT muddy like they were without a pair of proper boots.

But still it was great.  Kaitlyn loved it and got to hang out with her "best friend", Addie--when she wasn't busy picking a slew of unripe raspberries.  Mary didn't love it quite as much, and cried for a good portion of the time we were in the field.  Oh well.

Not too shabby when your school for the day is hanging out at a farm picking berries and learning about bees, I'd say.  We got home tired and dirty and so excited about our adventures.  And I'm already looking forward to the pumpkin patch trip next month!