Apple Orchard

James has been looking forward to the Apple Orchard all week long, which is no surprise considering the fact that it will be time spent with his girlfriend. Oh, and his family is invited along as well.

There was only one stipulation in the deal, and that was the timing: we had to get out there early in the morning, about the time they were opening up, so that there would be plenty of time to come back home and get some chores done. The weather has been so nice lately - in the upper seventies and lower eighties - and there is so much outdoor cleanup to do in preparation for the coming winter (like painting and yard work) that we can't afford to spend all of our time playing in the fields of apples.

But we managed to get everyone up and out the door in plenty of time to pick up our guest passenger and head up north to the orchard fields, find the correct one (there are a lot of 'em up there!) and start the fun.

The kids started off by going through the corn maze, which was really made for younger kids, but they had fun anyway. Meanwhile, Cheryl and I looked around at the little farm to see what was going on. They had a store with lots and lots of apples - many different kinds - and apple products in it. They had lots of vegetables for sale, too, including pumpkins and squash and peppers (I was a bit jealous of the peppers). They had a large pen full of peacocks, too. Which explained why they were selling peacock feathers inside the little store.

When the kids were done with the maze, we grabbed our buckets and jumped up on the trailer behind the tractor and took a ride out to the orchards. The driver asked us as we went along which variety of apple we wanted to pick; we went for the SpyGold. The route through the orchard was chosen accordingly. First he dropped off all the other passengers along the way (for the Golden Delicious, Ida Reds, and Fujis), and we were last. Which also meant that we were closest to the exit! So we were able to pick a bushel of yummy SpyGold (for apple sauce and pies) - and some HoneyCrisp for our guest - and then walk 'em back to the store to pay for 'em, then jump in the car and head home.




After all that apple-y fun, it was time for some hard work, so the kids helped me paint the front porch for the afternoon, and then it was time to head over to Lowes for various little hardware items. More projects to work on.

Saturdays are always such fun!