Sun-Kissed Goodness

Picking strawberries was at the top of our “fun” list this weekend.  Friday marked the season opening at Hall Family Farm in Ballantyne.  My 5 and 6-year-olds couldn’t wait to get there and were “yahoo-ing” in the car when they saw signs that it was (finally!) open.

The fun doesn’t stop at picking your own delicious, ripe and ready sun-kissed strawberries.  In fact, that’s just the beginning.  We started out our little adventure by checking out the new colorful chicken coop that houses the birds that are pegged for farm-fresh egg production later this summer.  Next, the kids ran over to the water pump duck-races.  Yikes - watch those fingers!  From there, they raced through the “maze” set up with posts and string.  It was fun for them to run around for a few minutes, but they gave up pretty quickly and ducked between the ropes to get out.

I was eventually able to convince them that we should get going if we wanted to get our hands on some of those strawberries.  The Hall Farm is luckier than some of the others to the south – their damage from the recent hail storms was relatively minor.  We grabbed a cardboard basket and picked a row that looked good.  We made it about halfway down the row before we had several pounds of juicy red strawberries.

We cooled off with a strawberry smoothie and waited for the “Sing-a-Long” hayride to start, a downright adorable addition to the farm’s fun activities.  Farmer Kevin Hall put an ancient tractor to work, pulling kids around in a wagon while a recording (narrated by their daughter) gave a little tour in between classics like “Old MacDonald.”

If I have one regret, it was that I left my 16-month old behind.  He would have loved the hay ride and I would have loved a picture of him on the farm.  I can’t wait to go back to grab more strawberries and a great family photo!