Tis the season...

for peaches!!! It came early this year, but we were given a clue as our blackberry season usually runs side by side with the peach season. And blackberries have been on for a week and some now, so I decided to give the farm up the Gorge a call and see how their season was going. That was a week back and they weren't ready, but I got on their list to call when our favoritest Hales ripened!  Then Thursday, this week, I and the kiddos were home expecting a slow day as Mr.Tech had a job 5 hours away in Klammath Falls, OR. and they called about 11:00 AM to say they had them in the stand and were beginning U-pick that day. :) We take our Hales quite seriously and since they only have 3 rows on the whole farm of this particular peach, we jumped and ran.. :)

We picked up Grandma on the way out of town, and made the beautiful 1 1/2 hour drive up the Gorge in good time. The kids kept busy looking for burn spots as they have been very interested to follow news about the large wild fire that is burning up near GoldenDale, WA about 30 minutes above where we were going to pick the peaches.

When we got to the farm there was a dry wind blowing and it was almost 100 degrees!! They had picked their first picking that morning and were selling them by the box in the stand for the same price as U-pick! Hmmm...that began to sound very enticing though we have great times picking them usually. We walked through the rows just to say we had and then decided quickly on prepicked in that heat!! We asked if they would have 14 boxes of prepicked and they did in the cooler by had to pack them up for us so the kids got a chance to stretch their legs and Beetlebug ate and then tada our peaches were ready! Too easy, but it got better from there! The kind lady at the stand said if we took 15 boxes the price would go down by $2 a box. We quickly found room for that box!! Then decided at that price we could probably fit a few more.

 In the end we came away with 20, 20lb. boxes of peaches for $4 dollars cheaper per box then we could have picked them for ourselves!!! Thank You Lord!! :)

The kids were abit disappointed at not getting to actually pick, mostly cause they didn't get to climb any ladders. :) So we headed for home with our hall and great thankfulness! And since we had extra time decided to take Grandma to our favorite little beach in Hood River!

 There was some pretty good wind this time and that meant lots of kite boarders were there. But the beach they mostly launch from is separated from this one by water so it still wasn't crowded. 

 The kids headed straight for the water once they had their fill of watching kite boarders try out the  jump that float off shore.

 Even BeetleBug got his toes wet this time!

 Because of the wind Jewel's had to hold a hand or she would lose her balance and fall in but she still loved being in the water!

 As did the boys, it was after 4 by the time we got here again so no sunburns but the dry wind and heat made the water feel sooo good!

 Racing each other to the shore, hard work when the water is up to your knees. :)

 Clutching me so as not to fall in completely and having a blast. :

Bugs even tried out his back float he learned from swim lessons back in the winter!

 watching the kite boarders.

 They found this stick and took turns towing each other around on it.  One would sit straddling it while the other towed.  They were all in jean shorts with no spares as we had not planned to get wet.

But after about 45 minutes of water fun we headed back for the van and sat in the wind and sun for a snack. By the time we were ready to head for home they were dry enough that they didn't need towels! So that was our peach picking this year with many thanks to Grandma for coming along and making it possible to go.  Mr. Tech was headed back toward home by this point but found out they needed him on a job that night about 30 minutes away from home. So he did a double shift and was up almost 24 hours when he finally came home this AM!!

Today we already had to get on them, getting the first ripe ones ready for the freezer!

 Since this involved knives Leroy was the first to notice and volunteer. These are dull knives mind you, and there were no cut anythings in this process (other than peaches).

 They each got to try their hand at getting the skin off and pit out of a slippery peach and then cutting it into slices for fresh eating. ( I did the ones for the freezer while this kept them busy.)

 And if you want them diced into very small pieces 2 and a half year olds seem to be very handy at that. She made the sliced ones into a lovely ice cream topping.

Which we enjoyed after dinner on frozen whipped cream! :) Delicious!!