raspberry picking

Washington Trip 2018

August 31, 2018 by Rebecca Whitehead

At the end of August, before the twins started Kindergarten, Jake took the twins and Meredith on an epic summer finale trip to Washington state. The girls had been looking forward to their trip all summer, and after having everyone home all summer long, it was a much anticipated break for me! Eleanor and I bid farewell to the jetsetting quartet and they were off! Needless to say between the squabbling twins and a two-year-old in a full length cast, Jake received many awed looks and “World’s Greatest Dad!!” comments from strangers in the airport!

According to Jake, the girls were great on the plane, thanks to snacks, Ipods and in-flight movies. We had the three girls sit together, with Jake beside them in the aisle.

After a flight, layover, another flight and an hour’s drive, they were excited to arrive at Uncle Kip and Aunt Gigi’s farm in Mattawa, WA.

Since there’s no town or anything nearby, I was worried the girls wouldn’t have enough to do and would drive everyone crazy for the five days they were on the farm, but I definitely underestimated the power of wide open spaces! The little wild animals roamed freely around the farm and exerted all their energy outdoors so that they conked out at bedtime without a fuss!

Raspberry picking in Aunt Gigi’s amazing raspberry patch.

Pizza night– the girls loved helping make pizzas and watching them be fired up in the outdoor pizza oven.

The girls’ favorite part was touring around the farm and seeing all the animals, especially the adorable baby cows.

Meredith didn’t let her cast stop her from hobbling around the barn to pet each and every cow. Poor calves looked terrified of her!

Pure joy.

So exhausted she conked out standing up!

Meanwhile, back at home…

Elle and I had the dreamiest staycation of all time! We got to bond, cuddle, enjoy relaxing walks and afternoons by the pool, and I got more things done that week than I had all year! I’m thinking this will definitely become an annual tradition, as the timing was perfect with it being the week before school started. It was such a refreshing break and I was able to recharge and get totally organized for the new school year.

Kip and Gig have five kids, but only the youngest, Mason, was around the hang out. Meredith became his best buddy and tagged along with him like a little puppy.

Climbing rocks at Wild Horse Monument.

Overlooking the Columbia River.

Sammy was here.

Throwing rocks into the Columbia.

I guess we need a treadmill! Anytime the girls slipped away, Jake would find them in the basement trying out the exercise equipment.

Lounging with their new doggie friend by the pool.

Endless activities!

Movie night!

The entire trip I kept hearing about all the delicious treats Aunt Gigi treated them to.

Four wheeling excursion!

The girls loved going to a local fair and all of the animals/greasy food that came with it!

Gigi and Kip said the girls were great, but the times that they inevitably did get cranky or whine, Kip would say, “No speaking Waaaaaahmby!” Meredith loved it so much that we’ve since adopted that phrase here and whenever the twins whine, Meredith with chime in with, “NO SPEAKING WAAAAAAHMBY!”

Jake found Meredith chilling with Mason and a bag of doritos while he played his video games. This was basically her heaven.

More “resort” activities.

The twins raved about how they were allowed to put as many m&ms in the cookie dough as they wanted.

Their reaction when Jake told them they were leaving the next day:

Aunt Gigi helping with the girls’ hair before their early am flight the next day.

On their way home.

Layover in SLC– hi Grammy and Grandpa!

Ginormous breakfast.

Elle and I were so happy to have the girls and Jake back and the girls couldn’t stop talking about the next time they want to visit. Not being there myself, it was a little nerve-wracking wondering how they would behave, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear from Gigi that they did awesome.

She posted: “My little brother Jake came to visit with three of his darling daughters this week! He is Dad of the Year in my opinion! Keeping up with these energetic gals is one thing but to keep them on a schedule, and do all the little things too?! He made sure they picked raspberries each day, had a physical activity, cleaned up after themselves and used their manners. The girls were so well behaved and funny I’d have them back tomorrow. Thanks for visiting us on the farm!”

I was so grateful for Jake, Gigi and Kip making my staycation a reality and thankful that everyone had a great time on the farm!

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: airplane, aunt gigi uncle kip, baby cows, farm, meredith cast, pool, raspberry picking, summer, summer 2018, treadmill, washington, wild horse monument

Apple and Raspberry Picking at Oak Glen

October 5, 2017 by Rebecca Whitehead

Usually September and October are my least favorite months since it’s normally super hot, right when we want the temperatures to be cooling down, but this Fall has been the coolest in recent memory! Cooler, more fall-like temps have made it seem like we have actual seasons here! It’s been perfect weather for apple picking, which we did a few weeks ago in Oak Glen. We visited Snowline Orchard first and then headed over to Riley’s, all in-time to make our exit by noon when the entirety of the Southern California metropolis was heading up the windy mountain road to descend on the quaint little groves of apples.

Mmmm.. raspberries.

Look what I found!

Showing off their pickings before going in the general store for some fresh apple cider and mini apple donuts.

Meredith was just a baby when we last went to Snowline, so this was her first time experiencing the mini apple donut goodness.

Watching the cider press.

It was still a little early in the season at Riley’s so the crop wasn’t great, but the girls filled up their bags nonetheless. The good apples we ate and the bruised up ones we made into applesauce with the Instant Pot. Applesauce forever!

Much to the girls’ delight, there was a plethora of “olden-type” kids activities at Riley’s farm, with everything from making butter to tomahawk throwing (we stayed away from that section). The girls chose to make and decorate some birdhouses for their activity.

This didn’t end well. Both girls were a little on edge having woken up early to make the drive out here and when the poor helper lady made the mistake of gluing on Samantha’s moss to the birdhouse roof without letting her help, Samantha became, well, unglued. We high-tailed it out of there fast. At least Meredith had a great time!

Burning off the last little bit of energy with a picnic at a really fun local park.

A real teeter totter! YES.

BEST. EVER.

My favorite part of the entire trip was this little unplanned stop at a random old schoolhouse. The free schoolhouse-turned-museum happened to be open, so Amelia (the only one who wasn’t melting down at that moment) and I took a quick tour. We were in love with this ADORABLE school!

My dream classroom, complete with inkwells, a phonograph, and a coal-burning stove for warming little hands. They had photographs of different classes who attended at this school, original cursive ledgers of roll call, handwritten notes from teachers– how Anne of Green Gables!

The girls don’t have desks at preschool, so I had to explain what this was. Amelia liked the idea of a place to keep all her paper and books!

Amelia graciously tolerate posing as my little vintage student. Would love to come back for themed back-to-school photos someday!

Happy Fall, ya’ll!

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: amelia school, apple cider, apple picking, mini apple donuts, oak glen, old vintage schoolhouse, raspberry picking, riley's farm, snowline orchard, teeter totter Meredith

Raspberry Picking in Oak Glen

September 24, 2016 by Rebecca Whitehead

Since we don’t really have a true “fall” here, we have to make up our own autumn traditions to get our fall fix. While it’s not even close to the beauty of fall in Utah where I grew up and Alaska/Idaho where Jake grew up, Southern California has its own fall goodness, albeit an hour and a half drive from Orange County.

Last weekend, we drove to Oak Glen, an adorable little town with country stores, diners, and apple orchards galore. We stopped at Snowline Orchard because we’d heard they had amazing fresh apple cider and a U-pick apple orchard. While the U-pick orchard ended up being closed that morning, the girls had a blast picking fresh raspberries instead and gorging themselves on apple donuts before working hard in the fields.

Pretending to pick apples.

Hooray for fresh, homemade mini apple donuts and hot apple cider!

So cute and kid sized.

Meredith was disappointed in the baby food selection, as always.

Out to the raspberry fields.

I never knew raspberry picking required such hard work and diligence. They weren’t right in front of you… you had to get down low and really dig to find the juicy ones. I was happy with my five raspberries after about ten minutes of picking, but the twins surprised me– they were occupied for over an hour searching for berries.

It was like a treasure hunt for them!

Jake and I switched off wearing Meredith, who was sick and tired of having her face smushed into the raspberry bushes.

We didn’t end up bringing any raspberries home because the girls ate all of them before we left the orchard.

Showing off their pickings.

After getting our fill of raspberries, we stocked up on apples, apple butter, apple jam, apple cider and apple cider vinegar from the farm store. This is about as close to fall as we get around here!

Lots of love,

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: apple donuts, apple picking, oak glen, raspberry picking, snowline orchard