It seemed like a relaxing field trip. Go on a Cook Out Tour at Tanaka Farms. We were going with a large group of fellow bloggers and I was pretty excited. I was expecting a little hay ride, pick some strawberries and eat some lunch in the middle of a farm somewhere. Turns out, I had it all wrong. Oh there was a hayride (sans hay, but still) which took us to the vegetable part of the farm. Where we were told to pick from chard, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes etc to make our OWN lunch. What? This was starting to feel a little bit like work- but the kids were totally into it, so off they went picking and trying veggies I have bribbed BEGGED them to try for years. So maybe there was something to this whole farming experience thing. I looked around and noticed my nice little tractor pulled trailer ride has disappeared. And the perky guide was pointing up a big hill and saying we were WALKING to our second location for squash. Um, excuse me? I totally wore the wrong shoes, and had already broke out my spare band-aides. It was a nice day, if like 85 degrees and no shade seems nice, so up the hill we went. And we had lots of young babies, toddlers and my good friend Kara-Noel who is 37 weeks pregnant. Perhaps this wasn’t exactly the best tour for families? Just sayin. Still I was doing okay, and my kids were loving every minute of it….and then we passed this sign.
I was starting to think maybe this whole nature thing wasn’t for me after all. But the elusive tractor trailer man was no wear to be seen. I had no choice. I was hiking. Snakes and all.
(Awesome Adam with newborn feeding duty on an irrigation pipe / Jack pretending he had to go. Good thing he didn’t. All they had were porta potties)
Eventually, after more walking we got to a little tented area that had all the supplies for us to wash and cut the veggies, and COOK them on a grill.
Again, I wasn’t too thrilled about having to cook while on a family field trip- but lucky for me my kids turned unto little Jaimie Olivers and chopped up a storm.
They really really enjoyed this part. So much so that I think it is time to start getting them to make dinner at home. Awesome.
After lunch (um veggies are not lunch to me –more like appetizer) we finally finally got to the magical Strawberry fields. And they were magical. Everyone got to fill up their own container and then could eat as many as you wanted straight from the vine. And these were GOOD strawberries.
Our chariot finally showed up again. And I may or may not have been the first on board.
This tour was 2.5 hours long. Plus the ridiculous hour wait before we left.
Well that made for a long, hot day and a hella lotta nature.
But look at these children.
THEY LOVED EVERY SECOND of IT.
Wanna go?
My tips? Pee first, eat first,wear COMFY shoes, wear sunscreen and bring a camera.
Oh and a rattlesnake anti-venom kit.
Just sayin.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I think I’m just going to post a link to this on my blog, you pretty much summed up our thoughts word for word. One other piece of advice, Leave your two month old at home…Unless you want to feed him a bottle on an irrigation pipe.
Hahahaha! You crack me up…my kids would have liked that tour, too, and I would have been grumpy because I don’t like it HOT and sans lunch with some sort of meat. Those Strawberries look divine, though. They may have made the rattlesnake infested tour worth it!
HAHAHA!! You made it sound way more Magical than I remember it! =)
Oh Marcy. I agree. Next field trip is at Macy’s.
lol — love your honesty. i totally agree about the problems for parents with young babies and moms who are preggers. the amount of walking could have been mentioned beforehand. do you think we got a different tour, perhaps?
still, i had a great time – and i even had to use the porta-potty, which had NO toilet paper. thank God I had a paper towel with me from the lunch area.
the life of a farmer is rough work. i’m thankful for Sam’s Club and Trader Joe’s.
I love this concept, and not just because I grew up on a farm and was often asked to go pull ears of corn from the patch across the street just before dinnertime in the summer. Glad the kids enjoyed – it’s important for them to know where their food comes from.
So funny. I was reading this, totally into it and serious. Then I had to scroll to get to the rattlesnake sign. I literally chortled (which I think is unladylike and highly unbecoming) but couldn’t help it…it made me laugh. I pictured myself seeing that sign and what I would have looked liked running back DOWN the hill. Trust me you would have laughed to if you have ever seen me running. Thanks Marcy, morning giggles are the best.
It’s a great experience for kids who live in the ‘burbs” – I LIVED this in another era so enjoyed the photo ops and seeing my fellow bloggers, but hiked it out of there to attend Art, Brews, and Bites at the Shorebreak Hotel. Like Adam said – I’ll link up when I post since you summed it up beautifully, and humorously, as always.
Well at least the rattlesnakes would have made a nice source of protein for lunch?
Slip them a note about footwear, TP, pregnant women and small children — those would have been helpful tips ahead of time. But what a wonderful opportunity! Now I want to go.
ROTFLOL! Ok…I should just post some pics and link to this post because it is hilarious and spot on!
LOL! I’m linking too. But I’m not doing the post till next week.
Still totally wish I would have had the baby on the tour. Then you could have done the boiling water joke… because like when will it ever be in context again?? AND with so many people to document the wittyness??
I do plan on tweeting during labor so save up for that. LOL!