I finally found someone that can match my watermelon consumption level, or fruit consumption in general. And he’s five.

The past week has been an absolute blessing. My mom’s side of the family had a reunion in Whistler. There were 4 generations of us having dinner and picnic-ing at the park together. Of the 25 people, it was my first time meeting some of the great grandchildren (I am of the grandchild line). The three I just met are adorable, full of energy, love to talk, easy to entertain, well behaved, and eat a ton of fruit.

On the day of our family picnic, we had wonderful weather. Clear blue skies and warm, almost hot, sunlight. While my dad was busy grilling hot dogs for everyone, I gathered the kids around a picnic table and showed them how to cut watermelon into cubes. I handed them cubes of watermelon non-stop until a quarter of the watermelon was gone. After several more “can I have another one please?”, half of the watermelon was gone. I don’t know how half a watermelon managed to fit into their toddler stomachs, but it did. I could easily tell that the 5 year old great grandson loved fruit the most. Even when his siblings said “enough” and went off to play for a bit, he stayed at the table and continued to spear watermelon cubes with his fork. It makes my heart so happy to see kids that genuinely love fruit.

That cousin’s family stayed at our home for one night upon returning from Whistler. While the parents were chatting over wasabi macadamia nuts, my brother, other cousin, and myself had to keep the kids entertained. Initially, they were intrigued by the piano, making their own songs by banging their little hands on different ends; Twirling Ballerina on the higher octaves and Creeping Monster on the lower octaves. Then they wanted to play gymnastics and did somersaults and egg-rolls around our living room. It was already 10pm, probably past their bedtime, and admittedly nearing mine, yet they still were bouncing off the walls and wanted to run around the house. In that moment, I kind of wished my house wasn’t as big as it is. The youngest one would run downstairs, turn off the lights, hop into bed, say goodnight, then 5 seconds later hop out, turn back on the lights, and say good morning as she sprinted back up the stairs. And she repeated this like ten times. I had just taken a shower but was sweating after chasing after her up and down the staircase. When her older sister needed to go to the bathroom, she tagged along too. But then things got real interesting (and messy) when she thought it’d be funny to pull her pants down and pee on her own pants and the tile floor while her sister was using the toilet. I was like “OH MY GOODNESS STOP AND DON’T MOVE” while I yelled for my other cousin to call her mom and my mom down. While my mom was wiping the floor, I washed her little hands and had to think of ways to keep her inside the bathroom since she was still pant-less and could pee again anytime. “Ooh, do you feel how cold the tile is?” “Let’s walk on the lines.” “Okay, hop from square to square!”

When the kids finally(!) had depleted enough of their energy storage to feel snack-ish, I brought them to the dinner table, luring them with strawberries, and took a break. My cousin-in-law told me that their kids will eat all the fruit first, then veggies, then the actual meal at the end if they still have room. Wow, they’re natural masters at proper food combining! Even when we were clearing the table and heading off to bed, the 5 year old boy still asked for more strawberries. I promised the 3 of them I’d make them smoothies for breakfast the next morning, and sent them downstairs to their beds. But they did not go to sleep without having to sort out some issues; the oldest one complained that her younger sister “stole her bed” while the youngest one stood next to her wailing. Oie, kids. As I am the youngest grandchild, I’m used to being the baby. Now there are actual babies and I’m the 20 year old aunt. Sometimes my brain can’t grip this idea yet.

This 20 year old aunt followed through with her promise and gathered the kids into the kitchen when they woke up. I told them we were making ‘breakfast ice cream’ and they eagerly watched as my Magic Bullet turned frozen berries into a thick sorbet-like mixture (I used this recipe). I gave each of them a handful of granola and a few more frozen berries to decorate the top of their smoothie cups. After the kids started digging into their morning masterpieces, I made the adults some too. Seeing everyone enjoy their berry bowls put a big smile on my face.

Evidently, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy ‘breakfast ice cream’. Smoothie bowls are a wonderful way to get an adequate amount of and a variety of fruit into your day. Like the berry version I made for my relatives, this peach melba smoothie bowl allows you to enjoy British Columbia’s best summer fruit: juicy, tree-ripened peaches and dark red raspberries.