The first thing Bracken did when we arrived home from our trip yesterday was to walk straight over from the car to the nearest strawberry patch in the garden. Had he missed anything? Were there a bunch more strawberries since he’d checked them last? Yes, there were. As I started unpacking the car and brought some bags in the front door, Bracken walked past me on a mission. He headed for his toy shelf, took a basket we keep his toys in, dumped the toys out on the floor, and went back outside telling me that he needed a basket to put his strawberries in. Jeff watered the garden, Bracken picked strawberries, and I unloaded the car. Bracken came over to me and proudly showed me his basket of strawberries. I was surprised because he has always been the boy who puts all the berries straight in his mouth, I was shocked that he was saving some for later. So was Jeff. Maybe if we were in a field of strawberries he would save some, but usually berries in our own yard are automatically eaten. (If you knew what a fruit maniac and especially berry maniac he was, you would be surprised too.) He’s been asking us to tell him “berry stories” (and robin bird stories and pooh bear stories) lately and when I told stories about picking berries I’d say things like: “we ate a few and then we put a few in our basket, we ate a few more and then put a few in our basket.” Perhaps those stories had something to do with it? Or the fact that he’s just getting older? Then I thought maybe he’d put them in his basket and end up eating them, but no, he told me that the strawberries in his basket were for his lunch for Rainbow Bridge the next day. (We always pack our lunch the night before.) When we came inside I set his basket of strawberries on the kitchen table and started cleaning up the living room. Bracken went in the kitchen and after a few minutes I went to investigate, wondering why it was so quiet. He had opened a cabinet door, gotten out a container with a lid, put all his strawberries inside, and put it in the fridge. When I walked in, he proudly showed me that he had his lunch packed. (We added some other things too, so our lunch didn’t just consist of strawberries.) Today we met in the park for our final Rainbow Bridge (the toddler/parent class that we go to at the Waldorf School) meeting until fall since there is a break in the summer. Bracken opened up his container of strawberries and shared them with his friends. Almost a year ago today, we had a morning strawberry pick followed by our meeting in the park. I guess we’ve started a tradition to pair the last Rainbow Bridge day with strawberries. I was happy that this year we were able to do some strawberry picking in our very own yard. We’ve been doing Rainbow Bridge with some of the same families and children for awhile now and it has been fun to watch the children as they grow up together. As we drove home, I realized I did not take a single picture at the park, which is a bummer because there was a lot of cuteness there with sunhats, swimsuits, and kiddos running through the sprinklers. I think I was just tired from day four of lots of driving in the car. When we got home, I breathed a sigh of relief that we don’t need to drive anywhere (other than the nearby post office) for the next few days. When we got out of the car Bracken had one thing on his mind. I’ll let you guess where he headed.