Friday, September 5 was a day in the vineyard for our kids. Several local taxi drivers donated their time and their cars to take our kids to pick grapes at a local vineyard. The taxi drivers' donations were quite a substantial gift on their part, for it costs them about 200 RMB per driver to pay the taxi company for personal use of a car. We were so blessed by their generosity. The vineyard also donated all the grapes the kids could pick. They probably underestimated the eagerness and thoroughness of our children, for we left with bags upon bags of ripe, juicy purple grapes!
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Abigail gets ready to go. |
The taxis wait for our kids. |
Luke and Olivia check out the sample grapes on the table. |
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Brett holds some plastic, "sample," grapes. |
The whole gang's here! |
Leah walks through the vineyard with her "official basket carrier." |
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| Julia was a very eager grape picker. She quickly picked up on the fact that the most desirable grapes were the purple ones and not the green ones, and from that point forward she went after only the most ripe and juicy. In the end, she had more grapes than anyone -- which she was proud to point out to whomever would listen and look. |
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| Still a bit young for grape picking, Cole thought the long vineyard rows were perfect for running races. Needless to say, his "basket carrier" was worn out by the end of the morning. In addition to racing, Cole had a brief lesson in picking grapes, a lot of grape "sampling" (peeled first!), and some exposure to giant gourds. |
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| Turns out Abigail really loves grapes. She loves picking them. She loves peeling them. But most of all, this girl loves eating them! |
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Brett doesn't want to put his grapes in the basket. After all, they are his! |
Emily works to peel the skin off the grape. She gets it eventually, and the payoff is great! |
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Reaching for the highest branches, Leah always knows to aim high! |
Cheryl didn't feel all that good this morning, so she half-heartedly picked the grapes. |
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Adah's a big girl and can carry her own basket! |
Abigail gives Luke a grape, and Luke puts one in Abigail's basket! Such good friends! |
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| Olivia enjoyed searching for the perfect cluster of grapes. And she was so proud when she'd find them! |
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Brett enjoyed eating more than picking... |
Julia and Cheryl search for more. |
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The kids inspect their bounty. We'll have grapes for days! |
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Olivia looks at some very large gourds hanging from the vines above. |
Cheryl (who didn't feel very well today) and Luke
wait for everyone to be ready to go. |
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As official grape testers, it is important to try at least 2 to 3 samples from every basket; just to ensure adequate quality. |
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| Abigail "wears" an interesting Chinese vegetable; is that a snake around your neck? |
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Always the helpers, Adah and Julia take turns tidying up. We didn't tell them that sweeping a dirt path is an exercise in futility... after all, it was keeping them busy. |
Julia's last game of the day was a race... away from the camera and down the vineyard rows as fast as she could run! |
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| She got all the way to the end, eventually! But, for fear of being left in the vineyard, she quickly came back. |
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Luke and Abigail, have you had enough grapes yet? |
Adah and Luke in the cab on the way home. |
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