An Apple A Day

Our mission Saturday morning was more to keep boredom away than doctors, but we decided to try again to pick apples at Strawberry Acres. Our last trip had gotten rained out. The website said they were picking, but by the time we got there, they had cancelled apple picking. Then again, now that I see the rutted dirt road hill their buses have to travel to get to the orchard, I'm less surprised about the rain cancellation!

We discovered that they were picking Jonagold and Red Delicious apples. We all hate Red Delicious, so we went with the Jonagold, even though we weren't familiar with it. First, we waited in line for our transportation to the right part of the orchard.
We were given a 1/2 bushel basket for picking, and liked the Bible quote stamped on the bottom.
Our transportation arrived in the form of what Scott called a "convertible" school bus. Faith was sad because we got the black and silver bus instead of the school bus colored one, but that's just because as a pre-K kid, she's obsessed with all things school bus.
Riding the open top bus with no seatbelts was an adventure, especially when it pulled onto the open road and then up a huge hill.
But the view from the top was pretty incredible!
Finally, we were actually picking apples! Faith and Juli kept begging for rides to reach the higher apples.
But then wanted to be put down to put the apples in the basket.
The forecast had called for rain, but it had really cleared up at that point, and the orchard was beautiful.
The kids were pretty darn cute, too.
Although Kairi's chapped lips made it hard for her to smile. Brass instruments take it out of you!
Once we had accumulated enough apples for a smallish army, we headed back to the barn.
Where we found some adorable Halloween lollipops that somehow got purchased, too.
Could you resist these little faces?
Speaking of faces, those of you who haven't seen Scott and I in awhile might be surprised by our faces. We've lost exactly 100 lbs. between us. (60-40 in favor of Scott...)
The kids showed us how to lose more by running around like maniacs for awhile.
It's odd, I think, that most of the year we pay absolutely no attention at all to where our food comes from. Then fall rolls around, and seeing the source of the harvest becomes a family adventure. I don't think we appreciate farmers enough!