Ailey and Etta: It's a win/win, Baby!

I've lived here for almost my whole life.

As a kid we did a lot of fruit picking at local orchards...
But I can't recall a time I've visited a strawberry patch.
(mom or dad you can correct me if I'm wrong)

I've driven past them from time to time...
and every time when I've wanted to stop it just wasn't the right timing.

But now that I have two kids and am,
well, bent on filling my kids lives with amazing memories,
it was high time we made the excursion.

I've been thinking a lot theses days about making memories with the girls...

Getting out of the house...
and packing diaper bag...
and taking pictures of the smiles between the whines...
and pulling over to feed Etta in the middle of a 25-minute drive
to a strawberry patch in the middle of nowhere isn't ever easy.

But it's worth it.

There's forgetting about sticky hands
because the strawberry you picked in the middle of the excursion
tastes that sweet...
or the call you make to your friend in the heat of it all just to tell her
"Dude, seriously, you have to bring your kids here. It's awesome."
Because it is.

It's a memory my kid won't forget.
And you know what? You should have seen the plastered smile
on my girl as she dodged from one strawberry plant to the next
with a "hey mom, here's a good one"

It is worth it. It is always worth it.

Sometimes Ailey will retell a memory from months ago.
Like "Hey Mama, 'remember when we went to that tall slide park?"
And I'm wracking my brain to recall exactly what she's talking about...
and then I remember the disastrous time I woke her up from a nap
and regretted my park decision
as she whined and cried and hated that great big slide I thought she'd love.
I wait to hear her version of the memory months later
and am always surprised when a not-so-hot experience is retold as,
"That was fun. We should do it again?"

I'm convinced memories only get better with time.
And, despite the exasperation of our strawberry patch trip this afternoon,
there is no convincing me it wasn't, in its imperfection,
indeed the same...perfect.

Making memories is an investment.
Like buying stock guaranteed to increase its value. It's win/win, Baby.