Apples and Sunshine

We finally did it!  We went apple picking last weekend.  I was worried that the season would pass us by like it did last year.  My weekends are completely overscheduled, so I did something I never do:  I left work early on Friday.  Taking  3 1/2 hours off  at  midquarter was difficult to do (on many levels) but sharing this fall activity with my sons was very important to me.

It rained all morning and was still overcast when I left work to pick up the boys at daycare.  Poor guys, they were not allowed to take naps since mommy was coming to get them right after lunch.  We had to be super quiet because everyone else was sleeping.  I hoped that Liam would take a nap during the car ride to the orchard.  He fell asleep five minutes before we turned down the farm's dusty entrance road.

Henry and I unloaded everything from the car except his brother.  We hung out in the parking area for a bit while Liam snoozed.  Then  I piled the boys in their red wagon and off we went!

During the drive, the sky had turned a brilliant blue.  It promised to be a gorgeous afternoon.  Turns out my expectations were far exceeded.  These photos were taken with my tired, old camera, but something about the light that day made everything glow.

Arriving on a weekday, even a Friday afternoon, meant that only a few families were on the grounds.  The school groups had just left.  We practically had acres to ourselves. The only crowded attraction was the "jumping pillow" (which I know now is the greatest invention since the printing press---it far surpasses sliced bread).

After an hour of play and taking in the beauty of the property, we hopped aboard a tractor-pulled wagon and rode out to the orchard.  We walked among row after row of trees, finding just the right apples.  Liam didn't have quite enough strength to pull the fruit from the branches but Henry had fun showing him how to do it.

When all was said and done, we brought home two bags (1/2 peck) of apples and a bushel of fun fall memories.  Next up?  Carving out some time for the pumpkin patch...