31 Days of Things I've Been Wanting to Do, Day 9: Apple of My Eye

We have been having exceptional weather for this time of year, and considering where we live, we knew we had to take advantage of it before it's gone! Something I've Been Wanting to Do..... Apple Picking!!!! 

I had the perfect plan.... complete with visual images of my children laughing in the sun and skipping among apple trees. We were all excited about trying something brand new to all of us.

We visited Garwood Orchard. To tell you the truth, I was kind of expecting to knock on the owners' door to tell them we were here to pick apples. Then I was thinking he'd lead us to his back yard and we would have 50 or so trees to walk among and pick what we wanted. I even made sure to take cash because I was sure they wouldn't have the capabilites to run my debit card. Boy was I wrong!

When we got there and parked, we walked through a line to pick up bags for the kids' apples and then we were lead to another line of people awaiting to be taken to the orchards. As we were standing in line, we made comments about just how big this place was! A horse drawn wagon pulled up to load us in and off we went! What a fun way to start! Graham didn't take his eyes off the horses.....

After a short ride, we were let off in what seemed to be a sea of apple trees. That's all we could see.....

We got right to picking! Joel taught the kids what to look for (no brown spots, only pick ones on the trees, round ones, etc.)....

My favorite 'picker girl'.....

Graham's bag got heavy fast. We had to sort the rotten ones from the ground out of his bag. Then he figured out kicking was better than picking anyway! :)

Distracted by a train going by....

I think it would be impossible to walk through an orchard and not think of Adam and Eve so long ago.

 

And on the way back, a tractor wagon ride....

We even stopped in their produce store before heading home. Sipping cherry apple cider, we watched as they sorted and bagged apples off the conveyor. We picked up some pumpkin donuts, old fashioned root beer and candy for the kids.

Our picks of the day...

On top of my kids laughing and running through apple trees, there was tons of picking, a little sweating, a small meltdown, lots of snacking and eventually napping. All in all a great day! (Stay tuned for apple recipes. I've got 47 pounds of them!)