Disney Vacation: Tips/Advice From a CMOTC Mom

A while back, we shared links from the Multiples and More Blog on a few helpful posts they had on how to do Disney with multiples. Below CMOTC mom Carrie H. provides additional invaluable tips and advice based on her family's recent Disney vacation. If you are planning a trip to Disney, this year or in the future, you'll want to read what she has to say.

Thank you Carrie!!

Carrie, Matthew, Lucas, Derrick and Natalie

What we learned on our Disney vacation:

1. Autographs: We decided we weren't going to seek any characters out. If we happened upon them, the boys had their autograph books signed. This trip, we had bought them Disney autograph books, along with monogrammed ears, ahead of time and they were delivered to them in our room when we arrived. The boys thought that was WAY cool. The last trip, three years ago, I had bought them small spiral notebooks from Target. They used these as autograph books and I took a picture of them with each character. Then, when we got home, I scrapbooked the signature with the picture into the Creative Memories 7x7 Disney book. Either way works great.

• We got Buzz and Woody at Hollywood Studios. They are in an air-conditioned room, across from Toy Story Mania. I'm glad we got their picture/autograph there. We could get both at the same time, AND it beats waiting for Buzz in the heat at Magic Kingdom, outside the Buzz Lightyear-Space Ranger Spin ride.
  
• Mickey and Minnie are in the Judges' Tent in Mickey's Toontown Fair. When we walked in, the line was huge, but we only waited MAYBE 10 minutes. There are a few rooms, each housing a Mickey and Minnie, so the line moves fairly quick.
  
• Another good, consistent place to get characters is at the Epcot Character Spot. This is where some of the more major characters are-Pluto, Goofy, Mickey, etc. You can see in the window who is in there, then decide if you want to wait.

2. At Magic Kingdom, always head to Adventureland or Tomorrowland first. Why? Because Fantasyland is SUPER busy until late afternoon. We found there was little to no wait in Adventureland anytime of day. We rode Aladdin's Carpets, the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc. multiple times before moving to other areas of the park. Fantasyland is least busy during the parades. One evening, during the Summer Nightastic Parade, we hit Fantasyland and Tomrorrowland and rode many rides, several times, while the parade was going on.

3. Fastpass, fastpass, fastpass! You'd be amazed what you can do in the time of a fastpass. In the hour we had to spare before our fastpass was valid for Space Mountain, we did AstroOrbiter, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and got Chip and Dale's autographs. In the hour we had to spare before the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride in Animal Kingdom, we waited in line (20 mins) for the Festival of the Lion King, which is a 30 min show, and made our way back. It's great to just walk right up and get on the ride with your fastpass.

Lucas and Matthew blasting off!

4. Stay in a Disney Resort. I can't stress enough the convenience, pleasant atmosphere, and flexibility this can add to your trip. We stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge-Jambo House. Some of the benefits:

• First, buses run constantly to the different parks from your resort. This is great when you want to go back to your room to relax or do the pool before heading back to a park for the evening.
  
• Each resort has a nice playground and more than one pool.
  
• Also, ours had two FREE crafts a day-from 10 am -11 am and 3 pm -4 pm. The boys made fun pirate masks during one of the craft times.
  
• We had to have a room that guaranteed a pack and play and a refrigerator, which is partially why we chose this resort. Also, we had the option of a room with bunk beds, perfect for the boys, along with a queen size for us.
  
• Build in a day of your vacation to just enjoy the resort-the pool, crafts or other activities, and then maybe go to Downtown Disney for the evening. We didn't do this and wish we had.

5. Dining Plan is THE way to go! We had Quick Service Dining. It was AWESOME. The Quick Service Dining Plan only added about $300 to our package and was good at all Quick Service Dining locations (basically restaurants where you don’t sit down to order). You will get a brochure with all the names in it from your hotel when you check in, if you ordered the plan. When you factor in that you can get any meal off the menu, which could range from $8 to $13 (give or take on either end) and it counts as one meal used, you save a ton there alone, not to mention snacks.

• We had 48 meals to play with for the week. We often got adult meals, and shared them as a family.
  
• We were able to eat breakfast at our hotel the last two days with our meals left on our dining plan.
  
• Each adult meal comes with a bottle drink at most places-some it's a fountain cup. So, we'd "bank" the bottle of Coke or whatever, and drink it later at the park or in our room, because we also received refillable mugs. We'd fill these at the pop fountain in our hotel, and take them to the park with us everyday.
  
• I thought we were paying for convenience at first, but when she rang up our first meal at Pizza Planet, I was happy to give her my Quick Service Card, as opposed to $45 dollars out of my pocket. Right then I realized how much of a steal the dining plan is, if we were going to pay between $30-$40 a meal.
  
• We had 8 snacks left on the last day and cashed them out for the ride home. It was so great to be at the parks and not schlep around a cooler (which we did last trip) and when the kids ask for a drink, a smoothie, an iced lemonade, mickey ear ice cream, etc., we can let them have those treats without worrying that we are paying about $15 for snacks for everyone. We also had 48 snacks to play with, too. It was fabulous!
  
• Next time we do Quick Service Dining, we are going to plan a bit more carefully. For example, we'll spend our dinner meals maybe in Mexico or Italy in the World Showcase at Epcot, instead of a place that has burgers and chicken nuggets, just to give a little more variety.
  
• Also, there's a great sandwich-Panera/Jersey Mike's type- restaurant in Downtown Disney called Earl of Sandwich. It was fabulous and took our Quick Service Dining plan as well.

Matthew and Lucus at Epcot.

6. Take or buy (because they would make cute souvenirs) a beach towel to give extra shade on the stroller. We put the sunshade on, and then draped the towel over it so her little feet were covered, too, when we were waiting in the sun for the parade. Make sure your stroller reclines, too. Also, take the best umbrella stroller you can find, or that you have. I saw so many parents struggling with jogging strollers, or Gracos in and out of the buses or through the crowds.

7. Buy Disney gift cards at Giant Eagle if you participate in fuelperks. If you plan far enough in advance, you can buy hundreds/thousands of dollars worth and use them to pay for your resort and park tickets online (and get a discount or even free gas from Giant Eagle). We bought them for souvenir money for the boys. It worked out great.

8. We allowed the boys to only choose one souvenir, and the rest we chose. Otherwise we would have come home with a car of toys. They included jibbitz for their Crocs, Pluto hats, as well as Mouse ears and Christmas ornaments.

Lucas and Matthew with their Mickey Mouse Ears.

9. Take the DS or PSP - these were lifesavers while waiting in line for rides or on the bus ride.

10. Don't be afraid to stop and ask others to take your family's picture. If we hadn't done this, we wouldn't have any of the five of us.

Carrie and Natalie in Minnie's kitchen.

To read more about Carrie and her family's Disney vacation or their daily adventures, here's a link to their family blog.

~~~~~~~~~~

Do you have any tips and advice to add? Do you have a place you frequent for vacation that you could share tips and advice? Or local day trips? Please let us know!

Kelly's Art Easel - making homemade cards for Father's Day

Father's day is THIS Sunday ladies!!! I think handmade cards are so much better than the store bought ones especially since I went looking last week and was disappointed, even in a target! So here are a couple simple ideas for cards you can make with your kiddos this week. Read below for gift ideas to put in them as well. ;)

I LOVE Michael's for buying blank card sets (with envelopes)! There was a 40% coupon in yesterday's paper or Joann fabrics also had a couple coupons too and both stores are a great place to get any supplies for my art ideas at a GREAT price!

*I got these from a website: www.kaboose.com, I love their stuff and I modified the 1st one but used the other 2 straight from them. It's a GREAT website/resource for stuff like this!

CARD IDEA #1: "You're a catch, dad!"

What you'll need:

• 1 sheet of blue construction paper
• Patterned paper (stripes, polka dots, etc)
• Toothpick
• 3" string (i used dental floss!)
• black marker
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• White craft glue

How to make it:

1. Fold the blue construction paper in half like a greeting card, set aside.
2. Draw a "D" shape onto the patterned paper and cut out. Repeat for the other piece of patterned paper.
3. Cut out 2 triangles to make the tails. then cut 2 more triangles (bigger) for the "fins".
4. Cut off the tops of these triangles to create the trapezoid (inside of the D shape) for the "fins" Use a glue stick to attach the tail and fins to the fish by gluing to the back of the D shaped patterned paper.
5. Cut the pointed ends off of the toothpick. Tie the string (or dental floss) to one end of the toothpick and trim one end. This is your fishing pole.
6. For the "A", I drew a "worm" shaped like a letter "V" and then used a sharpie (black marker) and drew a "J" shape for the "fish hook".
7. First place your fish, worm and your fishing pole (D A D) onto the front of the card. Once you have them where you want them, use the glue stick to attach the "D's" and "A" and the white craft glue to attach the pole/string.
8. Draw eyes, bubbles and any other details.
9. Let dry completely and write message inside.

Tips:

1. While patterned paper is cute, you can also have children make their own by coloring white paper with markers or crayons and cutting out your D's.
2. Use card stock instead of construction paper for a sturdier card.
3. Don't throw away any scraps, cut or tear them into small squares and keep in a zipper gallon bag for future projects. Great for mosaics!

GIFT IDEA: a gift certificate to any seafood restaurant and a babysitter booked so you can go too! ;)

CARD IDEA #2: "You're worth every penny DAD!"

What you'll need:

• 8"x10" piece of light cardboard (cereal box, etc)
• 1 sheet green construction paper
• 9 shiny pennies
• Green fine point marker
• Pencil with eraser
• Blue fine tip marker
• Scissors
• White craft glue
• Glue stick

How to make it:

1. Fold the green construction paper and cardboard in half like a greeting card. Place the cardboard on the inside of the green construction paper, lining up the fold lines. Use a glue stick to attach the cardboard to the construction paper.
2. Trim off the excess paper if needed.
3. Use pencil to lightly write "DAD" across the front of the card, leaving about 1.5" space underneath.
4. Use green fine point marker to draw dollar signs on "DAD" letters.
5. Erase any pencil marks that might show through. Use white craft glue to attach a penny to each corner of the D's, where the curve meets straight lines, and at the center of the curve. Glue a penny to the top of the letter A, and two at the bottom.
6. Write, "You're worth every penny!" underneath "DAD" with blue fine point marker.

Tips:

1. The pennies add quite a bit of weight to this card, so even card stock or poster board is not sturdy enough, be sure to use the cardboard or your card will not stand freely.
2. For a lightweight card, make photocopies of the pennies and cut them out and glue them on, instead of the real thing.

GIFT IDEA: gift card to his favorite electronics store?

CARD IDEA #3: "invisible ink"

What you'll need:

• One piece of white card stock, 4.5" x 3.5"
• One teaspoon of lemon juice (either fresh-squeezed or from concentrate) OR one teaspoon of baking soda mixed with one teaspoon of water
• Small bowl
• Small paintbrush or cotton swab
• One piece of colored card stock, 5.5" x 8.5"
• Adhesive such as glue stick, glue or scrapbook mounting squares
• Marker
• Iron
  

How to make it:

1. Place lemon juice (or baking soda and water mixture) in a small bowl.
2. Dip the paintbrush or cotton swab into the mixture and use it as "invisible ink" to draw a picture or write a message to dad on the white card stock. ( See photo ) Allow the card stock to dry for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the baking soda mixture is dry, brush off any excess soda. (Whichever "ink" you use, you will be able to see a very faint image on the white card stock.)
3. Fold the colored card stock in half. Glue the white card stock to the front. ( See photo )
4. Use the marker to write "Happy Father's Day!" inside the card.
5. Give the card to Dad on Father's Day. Wait for him to try and figure out why the front of the card is blank. Then tell him it's written in invisible ink and that he needs to iron it to see what it says. ( See photo )
6. Have Dad or another adult heat the iron to the "cotton" or highest setting and iron the front of the card. (Don't use the steam setting.) After a minute or two, your picture or message will gradually appear! ( See photo )
   

Tips:

1. It can be a little tricky writing using ink you can't see! Practice on a scrap piece of paper first.
2. Fresh lemon juice makes a lighter brown ink. Lemon juice from concentrate, or the baking soda mixture, results in a slightly darker brown ink.
3. To make your card look like a treasure map, have an adult carefully burn the edges of the white card stock before you draw on it with the invisible ink.
4. You can also hold the card stock carefully over a heat source like a light bulb to make the message visible.
5. Come up with some funny magic words, and tell Dad he needs to say them while he's ironing in order for the message to appear.
6. Decorate the colored card stock (the frame around the white card stock) with markers, crayons or small stickers.

GIFT IDEA: gift card to Starbucks or equivalent "relax"/break store? or even fast food!

If you have any suggestions or requests for future Kelly's Art Easel columns, please comment below or email (columbusmultiples@gmail.com). As well, if you have any art questions for yourself or your little ones, let me know!

Kelly

Create a keepsake with the sand from your beach vacation

For all of you heading to a beach this summer for vacation, here is a fun craft that creates a lasting keepsake of the sand you gather on your trip.




From the June/July 2010 issue of Family Fun.

Turn sand from your next beach vacation into this easy-to-use clay, then build a permanent, air-hardened sand castle for a keepsake.

Materials:

• 1 cup sand
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon alum (sold in the spice section of grocery stores)
• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• 3/4 cup water
• Shells (optional)
• Twig (optional)
• Tacky glue (optional)
  

Instructions:

Add the sand, cornstarch, and alum to a saucepan and use a wooden spoon to combine them completely.

Add the water and stir the mixture until it is smooth and the cornstarch is dissolved.

Cook the clay over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. The clay should start to thicken within a minute or two. Stir more vigorously, being sure to scrape the mixture from the sides and bottom of the pan.


After about 3 minutes of cooking, the clay will have thickened to the consistency of play dough. Remove the clay from the pan. Once it's cool enough to touch, you can start sculpting. (For best results, use the clay within a day or two of mixing it.)




Create your sand castle with towers and crenellated walls. We added a shell door and flag (a shell glued to a twig). The clay should dry completely within a week. If any pieces fall off after the clay dries, reattach them with tacky glue.



A sand castle is just one of the fun possibilities that you can create with your beach sand for a lasting memory of your great vacation. For younger kids, you could even shape the sand into an oval disk and get an imprint of your children's hands - sand from their first beach vacation, along with their hand prints and put it in a shadow box frame with a photo of them on the beach. The possibilities are endless for a fun way to preserve a piece of your beach vacation.

If you make this or another keepsake with your sand, please send us photos to share with the group!

New monthly column - Terra's Living Seasonally

We are very excited to announce that another regular monthly column has just been added to the blog - Terra's Living Seasonally. Her post will be centered around food, namely that which is in season here in Central, Ohio. She will talk about growing/harvesting it, picking it (where to pick it), cooking it (in a way even our children will love it) and preserving it (for the winter months).

Below is more information on Terra, as well as a great and easy recipe!

~~~~~~~~~

Hi! My name is Terra G., mom to twin girls (Charlotte and Veronica, born July 2008) and married to Joe. We live in Clintonville with our two cats and small backyard garden. My husband and I are what you might call food hobbyists. You name the gift-giving holiday, and I can guarantee I got a blender, food processor, kitchen-aid mixer, Japanese chef’s knife or food dehydrator. To encourage his experimentation, I surprised him with an electric smoker for Christmas and now our backyard smells like hickory on weekends and we eat an unreasonable amount of homemade pulled pork and smoked salmon. Since moving to Columbus from Brooklyn, NY in 2006, we have played around with smoking, canning, freezing and drying our food. And I was so into making my own baby food that my twins never ate any food that came in a jar.

So, not surprisingly, my posts will be about food – growing it, harvesting it, cooking it and preserving it. And, ideally, with an eye toward getting toddlers to eat it. We’re calling it Living Seasonally*. The idea is to aspire to a goal of eating what’s in season and available locally so we aren’t getting flavorless tomatoes in the middle of winter that came on a boat from Argentina. We’re lucky to live so close to such great agricultural bounty. I plan to feature items during that magic few weeks a year when they are in their peak season and give you ideas for how to grow them, where to pick them, how to cook them so your kids will eat it, and how to preserve them to use in the dead of winter.

*Living Seasonally isn’t all that original. I have a personal blog of the same name (livingseasonally.blogspot.com) where I post about many of the same ideas. If you’re interested, check that site too because it’ll have original content that isn’t necessarily aimed at family friendly eating (pickled jalapenos and strawberry rhubarb margaritas, anyone?).

And now for the first official recipe of Terra's Living Seasonally column...

Fried Rice

Fried rice is a great quick meal that can get you out of a jam when you don’t have enough of anything to make a meal around. Maybe you have 2 carrots and a couple of mushrooms and a handful of cooked chicken in the fridge. Great – you have the makings of fried rice!

Ideally you should use leftover rice. Just don't cook rice and immediately make fried rice out of it. It isn’t as good, don’t ask me why. Instead, try microwavable frozen cooked rice (Trader Joes sells 3-pack boxes).

Below is the version I made for dinner tonight. It used snow peas from the Clintonville Farmers’ Market, shiitakes mushrooms from the North Market, and lovely spring onions from the Pearl Market. But really, any combination of veggies and/or protein will work. Generally, add items in order of what takes longest to cook. Carrots first, greens last. If you want to use meat, cook it first (or use leftovers) and set it aside until the end – stir in just to warm it through.

My 23 month old daughters were happy to devour this. Maybe it was because we all sat together and ate the exact same dinner, which is still sadly a bit rare for us. Who knows what it was, and I can’t promise your kids will eat it, but it’s a good way to use up some leftovers in the produce drawer.

Ingredients (all quantities totally approximate – use what you have):

2 cups leftover cooked rice (or microwaved frozen rice – prepared and cooled in fridge)

½ cup diced carrots

¼ cup chopped spring onions (or green onions)

½ cup chopped snow peas

2 beaten eggs

8-12 sliced shiitake mushrooms

1 clove minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger (I use a kind that comes in a jar & stores in the fridge)

soy sauce

oil (canola, sesame or peanut)



If using frozen rice, microwave and put in bowl in fridge to cool. Chop all your veggies into similar size pieces to aid in even cooking. Mince garlic and ginger. Beat eggs in a bowl.

Heat 2 tbsp oil over medium high heat in a large, nonstick pan. You want it hot to cook quickly - don’t be shy! Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally 2-3 minutes until they start to brown, then add carrots and cook another 2-3 minutes until they start to get tender. Add green onions and peas and cook another 2 minutes.

When all vegetables are nearly done, add garlic and ginger, stir and cook for about 30 seconds until you start to smell them, but not too long or the garlic will burn. Add another 2 tbsp oil (at this point, I prefer a flavorful oil like peanut or sesame), then add the rice to the pan. Stir until all grains are coated. Cook another minute or two.

Add 3-4 tbsp soy sauce and stir. Push rice to the side of the pan, leaving a well in the middle. Add the beaten egg to the center, stir to scramble and allow to cook fully – about 1 minute. Once cooked, stir together with the rice and serve.

Look at that almost empty plate!

If you have questions, requests or suggestions for my column, please let me know. I would love to hear from you! Either comment below or email me at columbusmultiples@gmail.com.

Enjoy!

Terra

Popsicles that you can give them every night!

What child doesn't like popsicles? They go hand and hand with summer and being a child after all. However, they typically are not the healthiest thing to give them, even if it is a treat. Below is a recipe for homemade popsicles from CMOTC mom Wendy that are both yummy and healthy. You could even feel good about giving them to your children every day!

This is similar to a post I wrote last July, but it's so good it's worth talking about again!

I've always made homemade popsicles for my kids, which they have loved. They were made with fresh fruit or fresh fruit and yogurt. Last year, though, I stumbled upon a recipe that would add more nutrition to the popsicle and also answer the question: how am I going to get Oliver to eat a vegetable?! One of my twins, which is one of my three boys, would not eat a vegetable for anything. Sweet, savory, raw, cooked, seasoned, topped with cheese, it didn't matter, he will not eat it (though he gets it on his plate twice a day, every day regardless).

Sure I hid it in foods and as long as it was pureed and he liked the food, he would eat it. But I had never thought to hide a vegetable, like spinach or kale, in a popsicle... a much loved treat... it just never occurred to me! When I saw this, though, I was ALL over it. I think I made them the very next day (after running out for fresh spinach). And you know what? You cannot even taste it! What's more... they love them! Correction: they BEG me to have these popsicles for dessert every night.

In the post from last year, I have actual amounts of each item I used then, but typically I just throw whatever I have in and adjust until it tastes good. That means there is no messing it up!

We made our first batch of popicles last week after strawberry picking. Here's how I made them (I used all of everything shown in the photo, except where noted):

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Juice from two oranges
• Spinach
• Unsweetened 100% Pomegranate juice (optional) - I used about 1/2 or 2/3 cup

Put it all in a blender or food processor and puree. Sample it for tweaking and mix in whatever item(s) you think more is needed. Once it tastes right, pour into popsicle molds, freeze and enjoy! It's like eating frozen fruit, they are fresh tasting and refreshing.

Again, you can use whatever fruit or fruit combination you want and your kids like. Both spinach and kale have very little taste (kale has more than spinach I think, but I usually rotate between the two). There is a recipe in the post from last year for banana/pineapple/spinach that is pretty good too.

If your kids like sweeter popsicles, you can add flavored yogurt (I use Stonyfield strawberry, blueberry or vanilla) or Kefir (I typically use strawberry). This will sweeten it, but also add some nutritional benefit. Honey or raw agave nectar will work too. Or, if that doesn't do it, add a little raw (or refined) sugar... like Mary Poppin's always said: "A teaspoon of sugar..." Honestly, with that ingredient list, a little sugar isn't going to ruin it, if that is what works (in my opinion at least). You can always slowly decrease the amount you use over time. For my boys, they have never required me sweetening it with sugar, but my teenage stepdaughter is another story and that's when I subscribed to the Mary Poppins school of thought (for just hers)!

By the way, this recipe works well as a smoothie too. I use some frozen fruit for that, as well as one of the yogurt items I listed above, along with the kale or spinach (I've been known to throw in a carrot or too as well, if the mood strikes me). My vegetable hater, Oliver, calls it 'frozen juice' and ALWAYS wants seconds. Score one for mom! Actually, score two, because when all our neighborhood children are over, they ask me to make it for snack... and their moms love that!

A picture tells a thousand words... my happy popsicle eaters:

Above is my little non-vegetable eater... notice that his popsicle is almost gone and he has a big fruit/spinach mustache.

Give it a try and if you come up with a really great tasting combination, share it with us! Post it in a comment below or email us at columbusmultiples@gmail.com.

Not rolling yet... should I be worried?

Input from an Early Intervention Specialist:

Actually, we don't really focus on rolling or see it as a milestone in our Early Intervention program. Sometimes when children learn to roll, they use that for their mobility rather than crawling. Crawling is the milestone that is so crucial.

So rather than focusing on the babies not rolling, I would instead focus on giving them lots of opportunities to be on their tummies and to push up on their hands so that they can gain the strength that they will need to crawl. Limit time in exersaucers, johnny jump-up, standers, and walker (as the things limit mobility). If the babies won't tolerate tummy time for long periods, that's okay. Incorporate many short periods throughout the day, and they will really be getting the same workout as if they would be doing tummy time once a day for a long period of time. Floor time and tummy time are really important. Without it, the children will not get the practice they need in order to be able to crawl.

While many people think that it is no big deal if children skip crawling and go straight to walking, we believe 'the longer the children crawl, the better.' Crawling builds arm strength, leg strength, trunk strength, and helps form a deep hip socket which is very important. It also helps to make important connections in the brain. The time period when infant children crawl is really the only opportunity in life that we have to strengthen these muscles (unless we go to the gym everyday). If crawling were easy, we all would be doing it. So don't stress over the fact that they aren't rolling. Instead, just focus on giving them opportunities that will help ready them for crawling.

Strawberry picking time!

One of my all time favorite things to do with our children is visit pick your own farms. We love berry (any kind) picking, apple, pear and peach picking and pumpkin picking... of course! It's a fun family activity that not only supports local farmers and reduces our carbon footprint, but also gives us the freshest and best product at a fraction of the price. Can't go wrong there! Additionally, these annual fruit (of all types) picking adventures have also become a much anticipated fun family tradition.

We took our three boys (5 and twin 2s) strawberry picking last weekend and they had a great time both picking and eating... okay, more the latter. For this outing we went to Legend Hills Orchard in Utica, OH., which we have also been to for apple picking in the past. They have a large field with many ripe strawberries. This is the beginning of their season, so there are a few more weeks to take advantage of their strawberries.

I like this orchard because it is more remote than some of the other strawberry fields in the Central Ohio area and therefore tends to be less crowded. Another key: the earlier in the day you get there, the better not only for crowds but also for the best berries (in the afternoon heat they get softer and more delicate). They also have a farm market where they sell cheese, pre-picked berries as well as other fruit, jams and a lot of other items. As well, there is an Amish family that sells their baked goods and other products right in front of the store.

If you are looking for that great place to pick strawberries near you, the website that I have used for years to find places to pick fruit is Pick Your Own. This site breaks down by county. When you find the county you want, read the description of what each farm grows to find the ones with strawberries. The vital info on the farms will be listed, as well as customer comments and links to their websites.

Though I haven't been to these specifically for strawberry picking season, I hear that Circle S and Jacquemin Farms are both good places to pick strawberries as well. I have also bought great strawberries from Doran's at our local farmer's market, they have pick your own at their farm too. All four of these, including Legend Hills, (and more) are listed on the Pick Your Own website.

I also found two helpful links on strawberry tips, here and here, which include best times to pick, what to look for, how to store and freeze, how to make jam and many other things.

Happy picking!

Wendy

www.themooressix.blogspot.com

My family enjoying our strawberry picking adventure:

How about you? Do you have a favorite strawberry farm? Or a favorite strawberry season family tradition? Tell us about it!