Strawberry Delight

I mean, who needs Southern California when Southwest Ohio owns the best and brightest crop of strawberries. The brilliant and juicy red fruit hanging majestically by a stem, tethered to the proud green leaves and speckled by sweet white blooms is a marvel that stands alone. Strawberry picking is one of my favorite things to do each year as May welcomes June. I anticipated the opportunity to loaded up 4 of my grandchildren and set off to make some strawberry memories. My goal was to create an experience that could encapsulate my grandparent dream.

Let’s set the stage. Destination: a Strawberry farm located outside Loveland, Ohio. GPS tells me it’s 37 minutes away. No problem, I thought, despite the fact that my almost 5 year old granddaughter is prone to car sickness. Snacks and filled water bottles in tow, we set off. All 4 kids, ages 3-7 are strapped into their NASA designed car seats. All went well until 1.2 miles into the trek. The first challenge. Movement and ability for my 3-year-old to reach the coveted toy that dropped to the floor of the car is, shall we say, difficult. Trying to counsel the toy-starved child that I’ll be able to help in in 35 minutes was met with just a bit of resistance. Apparently my arms don’t reach to the back seat floor like his mom’s.

We all settled into great conversations. We talked about narwhals and their change in color as they aged. We talked about baby goats, and that baby foxes are called cubs. And did you know baby rabbits are called kittens? So many new facts for me. All was blissful until about 27 minutes in, and my 4-year-old car sick prone granddaughter began to complain. Crying because her mouth was watery (not a good sign). I reassured her that we would be at the strawberry farm in less than 10 minutes. Trying desperately to distract by more conversation of the animal kingdom, I kind of lost track of where we were. You know there’s a detour coming…literally.

Soon into minute 35, I realized my GPS had other plans for my destination. Apparently “Blooms and Berries MARKET” is at a very different location than “Blooms and Berries FARM.”  I knew when we arrived in downtown Loveland, Ohio, we were in a pickle. Any other occasion I would have loved exploring the quaint and lovely location of Loveland.  The problem was my grandson was still pining for the fallen toy, my granddaughter was on the verge of vomiting her entire intake of fruit snacks, and my 7 year old granddaughter with the chapter book open to page 32 just wanted everyone to “just be quiet,” so she could read in peace. To make matters even worse, the reader’s 5 year old sister instructing her to stop talking about not talking. All 4, in unison, expressed a harmonic desire to “JUST GET OUT OF THE CAR!”

Oh geez…..

After regrouping our directional challenges, we eventually made it to the strawberry farm and had the time of our lives. Discovering rows of seasonal deliciousness that bring new definition to the color red was just amazing. We picked three big buckets of strawberries, and left with two. Let’s just say we all savored the irresistible sampling. We fed the farm animals, and had the most nutritious lunch of strawberry milkshakes. Oh, and there’s the experience of taking 4 small grandchildren to the port- a-potty, all the while telling them “just don’t breathe.”

All in all the day was perfect. I mean, there would be no story without the detours. And so it goes. Strawberry shortcake anyone?