I was heart-broken last year when I looked on the website for our favorite orchard and saw the words “NO PICKING THIS YEAR. Sorry!” What?! We can’t pick! You don’t understand… THIS IS TRADITION! I felt like bursting out the song from Fiddler on the Roof! I was so disappointed that the early frost and extremely warm temps had basically destroyed most of the apple crop in Iowa. After calling and calling, I wasn’t able to find a singe orchard that let people pick apples. I just wanted a few fresh-off-the-tree delicious apples and a few awesome pictures to go with it. Is that too much to ask for? Well, for last year.. YES!
SO… this year we were EXTREMELY excited to get back to our favorite orchard this fall. Each orchard has a bumper crop of apples – they are literally crawling with apples. I have never seen so many on the trees. We packed up the kids and went on a gorgeous fall day…
Caleb LOVED all the the apples and took bites of any one that he could find! There were times that he had two – one in each hand – that he was alternating bites out of! He was in HOG HEAVEN!
What a beauty!
Hard work in progress!
Dayton – the little boy we watch during the week – didn’t know what to do with the apples at first. He thought they were balls, but once I started his apple for him by taking a bite, he loved it. There was food everywhere!!! (Yes, we are brainwashing him with the New England sports teams!)
Caleb picking his first apple off of the tree! Of course, he just wanted to eat it!
And he did! He must have had three whole apples over the morning!
Silly kids…even sillier daddy!
That picture reminds me of a great one we took when Grace was a baby In New Hampshire at Mack’s Apples:
Josiah liked the task of Apple Picking, too. He was VERY helpful in getting them. We were so glad that they were so easy for the kids to reach. There were TONS of ones hanging down low, but he wouldn’t slow down enough for me to get a decent picture of him picking!
The girls took pictures of the parents… (by Grace)
(By Hannah)
Brotherly Love…
Just chillaxin with his apples…
Dayton… still working on the first apple…
Our kiddos
HILARIOUS…
One of the sisters…
Fresh apples and fresh air… I LOVE FALL!
Isn’t this one covered!?!?!
Nope… the shot with the kids isn’t gonna work!
Here we were last time we visited… 2011!
I hope that we are able to return again next year! This is a favorite tradition of mine that I want to continue and continue and continue – and Danny want to too – as long as there is apple cider donuts and an apple pie in the future! :)
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