oh hello! we thought it was a great idea to go to the pumpkin farm the other weekend….uhhhh, that was a crazy decision. only one million people decided to go too and it was a hot mess.
first, it took us 25 minutes to travel one mile to get to the entrance of this farm. once we parked, it was another half mile walk just to get back to the entrance! oh em geeeeeee. thank goodness the girls were in great spirits and it was super nice and sunny out! the weather was perfect and it was in the mid 60’s!
we trekked our way through the dirt and dust…man, that stuff kicked our shoe’s behinds. our shoes were so filthy! once we arrived, it was a madhouse to enter but hc found the shortest line and we were inside in a jiffy.
we walked in and it was craaaaazzyyyyyy. so. many. people. we hit up the fun house first…which was super creepy but the girls enjoyed it. we settled on the idea of food {we were so hungry!} and oh my goodness…that was an event in itself. hc stood in the longest line ever to order, then once he ordered, he had to stand in another line to pick up the food. wtf. the most ridiculous process ever.
we ate our mediocre food and promised the girls we would do whatever they wanted and boy, we did. it was like great america {although i haven’t been there since i was 9, so i’ve been told what the experience is like}. we waited and waited and waited in line for all sorts of rides. the girls didn’t mind and we didn’t either. hc and i knew what we were getting into the moment it took us forever to initially get into this place.
after being there for several hours and doing all of five things, the temps were dropping and we were ready to go. the girls were satisfied with all the rides they were on and so were we.
would we go again next year? probably…maybe to a different farm but regardless of the crowds, wait, and nuttiness of the place, we had a wonderful time with our girls and their smiles and laughter was so worth every cringe-y moment endured. LOL
we commenced the halloween classroom treat making on a whim. i wasn’t planning to have olive assemble her treats when we did but it just happened. as an amateur photographer, the lighting was definitely not right. it was too late in the evening and it had become dark outside, so with the artificial lighting…the pics turned out grainy, yellow, and not typical of the product i like to produce.
anyhoo, now that i have prepped my not so ‘great’ pics posted, we had soooooooo much fun making her classroom treats! i always rummage through the plethora of extra crap i have downstairs in my craft bins and will find something we can use to make fun gifts for the kiddos.
i did the calligraphy and olive drew the hearts on each glassine bag. olive also colored each sticker and placed one on the outside of all the bags. olive filled each sack with stickers, tattoos, vampire teeth, a lollipop, and a spider ring. we then sealed each bag with halloween washi tape and voila!
halloween treat bags for her friends at school!
i know i am extra. and i love it. i’ve been this way since i was born. i recall creating bags for our local trick or treaters in our neighborhood. i would collect all my goodies at our nearby jewel grocery store and asemble bags to give away. yes, not much has changed. LOL
do you like to create fun halloween treats or you more of the ‘here’s a handful of candy, bye’?!
[helping mama put together her class treats]
[stickers olive colored in]
[my creative girl drawing a heart on each bag]
[showing off her bags]
[how cute are they turning out?!]
[she’s so sweet]
[tattoos]
[placing a colored sticker on each bag for her friends]
well, if you go apple picking, ya gotta make apple pie, right?!
every year, after we pick apples, hc and i collaborate and make apple pies! i usually peel and slice the apples while hc makes the pie crust.
i love that olive is at an age where she can really help. we really do have fun together! she’s so cooperative, neat, and listens well to directions {unlike my little nugget ellie}.
we started with peeling 10-12 medium to small apples. i like to slice them more on the thin side as they cook well and it is easier to eat. i measured and olive threw in flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, brown sugar, and mixed it all up.
hc had whipped together the pie crust and refrigerated it for a bit before rolling it out to fit the pie pans. i filled the pans full of apples and hc then threw another pie crust layer on top of it and trimmed it. i rolled the remaining dough to cut out some stars to decorate the top of the crust with and then i brushed the top with some beaten egg, sprinkled on some sugar, and into the oven the pies went!
almost an hour later, we had our finished pies!!! we couldn’t wait to eat them! they turned out lovely and they were baked to perfection. hc preferred his served a la mode while i liked my pie plain {although i am a huge a la mode gal!}. we both thoroughly enjoyed our hard work! the pies were delicious!
baking apple pies is one of the reasons why i love fall!
my sister, kim, suggested we go to an event called jack’s pumpkin glow on saturday, late evening. she sent us the link and all over the site, it was screaming ‘chicago, chicago’ and i thought, gosh, i don’t want to take the girls to a chicago event so late at night!? right? it’s too close to bedtime…the girls have been in a great routine since school has started and i kept thinking they would be super exhausted with us being out so late, even if it seemed like a really cool display of pumpkins.
well, hc looked closely at the website and he realized it was in the town right next us! they used chicago as a location for national advertising but it was local, to us! ahhhh hahahaha! well, ok then. let’s do this! we figured, even if we were out late past their bedtime, it was so close to home, we would be at our abode in a jiffy. that made much more sense!
we met up with my sister kim and bennett {reagan and terry were caught up at a game later than expected} and walked our way towards the event. okuuuuurrrrr, so the worst part about all that was, it was soooo stinkin’ muddy. like m u d d y. as in your feet sank into the ground and the mud splashed back up onto your leg. ellie started freaking out and wanted hc to hold her but hc refused as her boots were covered, dripping in mud. if he picked her up, she would wrap her legs around him and there goes his clothes. LOL
once we surpassed the corralling entrance, the path around the displays were mud free! hallelujah! then the show began and wow! it was awesome! everything you saw was made out of pumpkins. there were hundreds of carved pumpkins…individually lit and the artwork in the themed areas were stunning! true artists at work. there were so many pumpkins with intricate designs, pumpkins that formed harley motorcycles, snowmen, giant turtles, ladybugs, you name it…they carved it out of pumpkins! we were so amazed!
they had bugs, disney, haunted ships, motorcycles, dinosaurs, sport themes, portraits carved onto the pumpkins…so many cool designs everywhere you turned!
the girls had a blast! they were so amazed by all the artwork and how everything was made out of pumpkins. it was definitely worth it and so much fun for the kiddos! if you are going…i recommend waterproof boots, no strollers, dress warm, and be ready for big crowds. i had my hand attach to the girls at all times! it was dark, as to see the pumpkin glow better, so it was easy to lose track of your kids if they weren’t attach to you with so many people around you!
has anyone seen the snl skit that mocks folks going apple picking?! LOL #truth, right?! but who cares?! we love it anyways. overpriced apples and all.
we won worst parents of the year award though. i had all intentions to grab their cardi’s on the way out the door but we totallyyyyyyy forgot them. ughhhh. i knew it would be a bit cold but when we arrived at the orchard, it was much colder than it was by our house! i was cold and i was so upset that the girls were wearing a dress and socks with no extra layers. i felt like a bad mom. i must say, though…at first they seemed chilly but after running around and running around and running around non-stop, they were definitely not cold anymore. thank goodness for their cousins keeping them active!
we all decided to pay for the ‘other apples’ picking and the barnyard fun all access, apparently honeycrips were extra extra moolah! we gathered together in line and waited for the tractor to come by and pick us up. the girls were so excited and olive couldn’t wait to pick some apples.
i was excited that the weather was somewhat cooperating. it had rained heavily the night before, so it was muddy but it wasn’t so hot like it was last year! last year, it was 90 degrees and this year, it was the upper 60’s…so it was dramatically different but i definitely prefer for it to be cooler. when it is sooo hot, no one is truly enjoying themselves and the kids are miserable, making it a no win situation. it was so cute though, while we were in the car en route, olive said, “i remember when we went last year and it was sooooooo HOT! ellie was so upset” hahaha! that’s right girly.
we enjoyed walking around, searching for perfect apples, and dodging muddy lakes in the ground. hc brought a little pocket knife to cut apple slices for the girls and they were smitten. hc couldn’t cut slices fast enough for the hungry little monsters.
we filled our bags full of apples as we weaved in and out of the apple rows, occasionally running into our family as everyone individually hunted down the apples their tastebuds wanted. we ran into the asian pear trees and they were severely picked over. there were some good apples sitting high in the tree, so i climbed onto hc’s shoulders and reached for the stars! i was able to pick 4 solid good pears to share with the family!
after we picked our apples, we all headed to the country kitchen to grab some chow. afterwards, we walked over to the barnyard fun area and it was soooooo dang muddy! ughhhh, the girls were like no thank you. there were fun wooden displays the kids could climb up on but it was smeared with mud from top to bottom.
we just missed the pig race. we caught the tail end of it. olive was still able to catch a glimpse of the pigs running. we found the ‘petting’ zoo and olive loved it! she had so much fun checking out all the animals. while olive was exploring the zoo, i was trying to track down hc and ellie, as they had gone ahead of us while everyone was finishing up their meals.
hc discovered the jumpy area and we were dunzo. the girls were in heaven and spent the rest of our time screaming, shrieking, and laughing down all the slides. we finally coaxed the girls away from the jumpy houses and navigated our way to the store. there i bought dish towels, fake pumpkins, and we grabbed a couple dozen apple cider donuts!! yummmmmm!
we were ready to head out when my sister kim text us that they were eating desert. okayyyyyyy, twist my arm to get the girls desserts. i bought olive a big ass apple cookie and ellie an caramel sundae. the girls devoured it. then we were done!
we moseyed on our way back to the car after saying goodbye to everyone. all of us satisfied with our time there, happy with our goodies coming home, and feeling the love as a family.
cheers to overpriced apple picking my friends!
[ellie is so silly]
[goofing around always]
[i love olive’s attack face and ellie’s wtf face]
[keeping up with the big kids]
[on our way to the orchard trees!]
[my tribe]
[enjoying all the apple slices dada is cutting for them]
[coming in hot…watch out apple!]
[putting her goodies away]
[my little punk]
[they make my world go round]
[agata and dan]
[the sweetest]
[my silly girl]
[the girls with their super aunty]
[silly aunt thuy]
[the coolest crew]
[get it olive]
[gourmet meal]
[kim and lan]
[
[candid pic by my sis]
[picking some asian pears]
[hc found the bouncy house area and that was it. we were dunzo. nothing else mattered. LOL]
the day had come for ellie to be in ballet. now, if she likes it, that remains the question. she seems more of the soccer type of gal {or karate type} but that still remains to be determined.
so far so good with her…she’s had three classes and so far, she likes it. although i hear a lot of “ellie, listen” or “ellie, toes out” or “ellie, hands up” from the hallway, over and over. according to her teacher, though, – ‘she’s doing great!’. LOL
well, just to be clear…she started ballet class in september…yes, weeks ago and i am finally posting something about it. ughhhhh…life, right?!
ellie is my crazy emotional, tenacious, stubborn, fiery child. she’ll hit her sister and then hit olive again after i say, ‘don’t do that!!!!’, and then throw something at me. no joooooooke. she’s a riot…literally.
so, i am hoping ballet is something she likes and finds the beauty, calmness, and peace it instills within it’s creative form. praying. haha!
both girls did a great job with their first classes and they said they loved it! mama couldn’t be more proud! ya gotta admit, they are so adorable in their tutus and shoes!
this is olive’s third year in ballet and ellie’s first. i am not sure how long they will be in dance but i am hoping for a bit. honestly, as long as they love it. i think it’s important they are exposed to different activities but as of right now…olive really loves gymnastics, ballet, and swim! i ask her from time to time if she would like to do something else but she always says no. i think, more so, it’s because she doesn’t know any better and i will probably sign her up for different things {soccer? taekwondo?} to truly gauge what she, or ellie, gravitates towards. but until then, ballet it is for them!
