Apple Picking

This past weekend we decided to flee from all the chaos and construction of the new house--so at about 4:00, I kicked out all of our workmen and we headed out of town. It was SO nice to have some time away from The Move--it's been so all-consuming and we needed a break.

The highlight of the weekend was apple picking. Just being out in the fresh air on a perfectly perfect fall day was great!

Here's Teddy climbing a grain silo:

And Teddy and Pickle on the wagon that took us around the orchard:
Miss Pickle bagging some apples. Look at all those apples on the ground! What a waste...
The Gooser looking dapper in a Batman shirt and blazer (notice he's lost his front teeth):

Here's Patrick with his bag o' apples:
Group shot! I think this one has potential for the Christmas card?
Andy, Patrick and Gooser riding on the wagon...
...pulled by these:

Portrait of Gooser in the orchard:
This place also had a nice pumpkin patch. Here's Pickle amongst the pumpkins:

Andy found a good one!

A sweet brother/sister moment. Awwwwww!

I loooove this Pickle pic!!
When we were finished with the fruit and gourd picking, we stopped by the country store for cider and doughnuts and all that jazz. They also had an outdoor barbeque going with grilled corn on the cob. It was SO good!
Children of the corn!

Quick house update--things still look like this around here:
You can see why it was so nice to get away for the weekend...

Please make it end! I can't take much more!!

Apple Picking!!

We are back from our quick little getaway and--although it was short--we packed a lot of fun in!

We had time to stop by this winery we love and stock up on our favorite wine which also happens to be Bob Hope's favorite wine. We just call it "The Bob Hope." As in "Don! I need more Bob Hope!"

We also had some nice meals out at some of our favorite restaurants and even a quick swim before the pool is closed for the season--but the best part of the trip was apple picking!

I LOVE apple picking and look forward to it every fall. We always go to a fun orchard that also has a cute little farm/petting zoo, live music, barbecues and a barn store full of delicious stuff like apple cider doughnuts.

But, of course, the best part is the apples! The extra good thing about apple picking this year is that this was apparently the best apple season in the past 53 years! Every kind of apple was available in abundance--I've never seen so many apples!

Here are some highlights (let me apologize in advance--there are a LOT!):

Here are the boys ready to start!

Pickle started eating the apples immediately!
The Gooser:
Pickle choosing a perfect apple.
A bad apple!

Pickle enjoyed picking dandelions!
Gooser and Patrick.
Gooser peeking through the apples.
And now onto the pumpkins! I tried to take a group shot amongst the pumpkins for a Christmas card idea I have--I want to do four pics of the kids in each of the seasons. This one isn't super great, but not too bad. What do you think? Should I redo?

More of The Gooser!
Gooser and Pickle:
And here is an attempt at a group shot with some mums:
And now onto the farm/zoo! There was no shortage of goats. This little brown one really bonded with Andy--I couldn't tear Andy away!

Isn't this a beautiful goat?? I would love to have one--I wish I had a farm!
Pickle really enjoys feeding goats! She kept saying "Again! Again!" when she ran out of goat food.
Oh and this is my very favorite--a newly-hatched baby chick! How cute is it?? I have been wanting to hatch a chick at home for a fun project with the kids--I bought the little incubator and everything--I think we'll do it soon!
And finally, a Siamese twin pumpkin!!
Whew!! Sorry so many! We sure had a great time. Oh-- and guess how many pounds of apples we picked? 75!! How crazy is that? I'm going to be making a lot of apple recipes in the coming weeks--including Karla's crock pot apple butter. I have an idea to make the apple butter and use the jars of it at Thanksgiving with place cards tied to them and then let the guests take them home. Good idea?

Also, Scary Mommy is having a great giveaway--a beautiful basket of coffeestuffs. Go check it out immediately!!