Apple Orchard

On Monday I drove the kids up to my mom's for a trip to the apple orchard. We got rained out Monday afternoon so we went on Tuesday morning. They absolutely LOVED it! Austin was fascinated with the huge tractors that pulled the wagons to the "picking area". He was so excited to get on for a "tractor ride" (even though he wasn't actually ON the tractor...shh...our little secret!). He is funny though...his initial excitement over something usually turns to uncertainty and a little bit of fear once the exciting thing is actually happening. He talked and talked and talked about the tractor ride, but once it started he got very quiet with big eyes and cuddled closer to my mom trying to put on a brave face. They were both so funny once we got to the actual orchard...they loved picking the apples and putting them in our little bag. They also tasted quite a few (the one bite wonders!) and then tossed them to the ground (again...shhh!). The good thing is, they now love apples! YAY! Caitlin also loved waving to every single kid she could. She is a little social butterfly. Austin did his world famous robot imitation in the middle of the apple trees...it was entertaining. Caitlin was a dedicated picker...she didn't have time to play around. Once we had enough of the apple picking, we got back on the tractor and headed back to the main area.

We went into "the barn" to tell great gramma, aunt Courtney, and baby Ethan all about it. And the kids needed a snack...goldfish for Austin, noodles for Caitlin and, of course, milk. Once re-fueled we headed out to the animals area. It was like a mini-zoo! The kids saw chicks hatching, regular goats, pygmy goats, llamas, ponies, and bunnies. They ran around a little hay maze and then got to go to the play area complete with mini John Deere tractors and fiberglass animals for them to ride on. I could see the light stream down from heaven and hear the angelic music playing as each kiddo spotted this. Caitlin hopped on the cow and Austin grabbed a tractor. Caitlin went from the cow to the horse to the pig to the tractor. Austin went from the green tractor to the red tractor to the green tractor. :) He explained to me that he was "driving to work" (the pony "stall") where he "parked his car" and "got some gas". The boy is like a mini Ryan...except Ry doesn't drive a tractor to work (he just traded it in for his VW).

So, we went back to "the barn" and I bought a couple books for them while they each picked a pumpkin with gramma. They were so cute carrying them in from the little pumpkin area! After that, baby Ethan was hungry so we went back to my mom's house for some lunch before we headed back home. Austin was asleep before we hit the highway and Caitlin was not far behind (a miracle because she hates sleeping in the car!). Caitlin set a world record for number of times one little girl asked "wha choo doin' mom?" and getting distraught if I didn't have 2 hands on the wheel at all times!!! She definitely made the ride entertaining!

Here are some pictures from the trip...



STAY TUNED...Sunday is a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!!!!