we love going on our annual apple picking trip every fall!
although i struggled to find a good orchard that we haven’t been to {bad weather and a pandemic to blame}. we’ve frequented a few good ones several times in the past but we wanted to try something different. not that the orchards we’ve been to were bad, i just like to change it up. sometimes it’s a good thing to discover a fun new place or it backfires, but you have to take that risk, non?!
we decided to go to jonamac orchard. it was b u s y. it was hard to physical distance yourself from others {we did go on the weekend…hence how busy it was} and because it was so packed, it stymied our fun. or maybe we were just apple orchard burnt out?! LOL
plus, the apples were sooooo picked over and so many lanes were not ripe. we were given 6 lanes to pick from and that is not a lot when there were that many people there with you. feeling a bit defeated as that was our purpose – to find delicious apples and have fun picking from the trees. instead the trees were bare and we were dodging people left and right down the lanes.
we scored quite a few goodies in their shop though! kettle corn, fudge, drinks, doughnuts, and a bunch of other things we didn’t need. hahaha! that was a highlight for sure! we were all hungry so our family {my mom, sisters, nephews, brother in law} decided to head to a restaurant nearby for some grub as the kitchen at the orchard was packed and there wasn’t a lot of seating and the flies and bees were viciously attacking everyone. gah! we didn’t want to eat and constantly keep swatting away the bugs. that would not be fun!
oh my goodness. yes, i sounded a bit like debbie downer with all the issues that we had but it was fun to go, we did get some yummy apples and spent quality time with our family! ending our trip at the restaurant was a perfect way to cap off our afternoon of fun! relaxing, eating, air conditioning, and drinking!
[the fam…it was so insanely bright…by pictures were blown out!]
[grace and jane]
[about two seconds before she screamed bloody murder there was a lady bug on her arm. LOL]
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]
our annual apple picking adventure has come and gone. and boy oh boy, it was a hottttt one! we had planned it with my mom, my brother dan, his girl agata, our family, my sister’s family, and my sister. it’s hard to coordinate a day with that many people, so we had settled on a sunday {the weekend before fall officially arrived}, where honey crisp apples were ripe for picking!
the temperature was not in our favor. i was hoping, everyday leading up to the day, that it would change but it did not. it was going to be 90 degrees and humid. ugh. i don’t mind it being hot but when you have two little kids and one who is high maintenance, it’s literally a sticky situation.
as soon as we got there, ellie was having a fit. her cheeks became extra rosy and she was sweating profusely. oh goodness, she was so grumpy and uncomfortable!
we met up with everyone in front of the restaurant area and once we were all there, we headed to the line. it wasn’t as long as when we first got there {everyone rushed into line when the orchard opened} but it was still long and you definitely don’t wait in the shade! ellie screamed and cried and wanted to be held but it wasn’t comforting for her at all. oh boy.
we finally paid for our bags and got into line for the tractor wagon {and the workers there warned us of the mosquitoes in the orchard, they said it was realllllllll bad and to top it off, honey crisp apples were not available to pick. whaaaaaa?!}. they dropped us off in the field and we walked down a row of trees and boom! the mosquitoes attacked!!!!! bzzzzz zzzzzz zzzzz bzzzzzz. no joke. they landed on us left and right. buzzing in our ear. biting us. bleeding on us. bouncing off my face. biting us through our clothes. i swatted mosquitoes off the girl’s faces non stop. five mosquitoes landed directly in the middle of ellie’s forehead! holy crap! it almost looked like child abuse, i was hitting the girls so much just to get the little blood suckers off their bodies! my sister and family came running at us {they were a bit further down the orchard row} and said they were leaving and ran away! ohmergawd! it was so bad!
we all left, although, we actually did a decent job picking apples despite the circumstances {my mom, agata, thuy, and dan decided to hit the other side of the orchard to pick}! the rest of us walked back to the main area and debated on leaving or staying. we weren’t sure what we wanted to do but i definitely didn’t want it to be a wasted trip. ellie was a mess. so, hc took her to the car to cool down. my family and i decided to get food. we walked into the restaurant, ordered food and sat in an enclosed area…it wasn’t air conditioned but it was covered, there was no sun shining directly on us and no bugs!!!
we cooled down, relaxed, and really enjoyed ourselves. after filling our bellies and imbibing some cool libations, we were feeling good. we all decided to head on over to the shop and peruse a bit. {i text hc to bring ellie and meet us} we nabbed mini apple cider doughnuts, bought too much candy, toys, and random knick knacks. after hanging out in the shop with my family for a half hour or so, we decided it was time to leave. we had apples, we had pictures, we had doughnuts, we had fun! we really did!
here’s to hoping that next year’s date is a lot cooler and less buggy! happy fall y’all!
[apples on the market]
[ellie started to burn up right away! she was so uncomfortable!]
[here comes the tractor and wagon]
[mom and thuy]
[my sweet family]
[collecting apples!]
[she’s sweet as pie]
[my current favorite picture of her…she’s so tumultuously sweet]
[the only moment where she wasn’t crying…]
[me and my babe…i can’t express in words how wonderful she is]
[hey girls…let’s take a picture together. girls: let’s look the other way!]
[yup…ellie cried, they were melting from the heat, and olive asked me if she could stop itching from the mosquitoes bites]
[cooling off and eating bug free. she had pink spots all over her face and neck from the mosquitoes]
we went on our annual apple pickin’ outing this past weekend!
i was so excited…i love this time of year! i am happy it is october, i am happy the weather cooperated {70+, not 90+ as it was the prior weekend and the previous years we’ve gone}, and i am happy!
we arrived at the farm and as we were walking towards the main area, terry and famille drove by! yay, right on time! everyone met up by the apple picking lines but we decided to go eat first, the boys and olive were hungry.
i was quite surprised, with it being such a nice day, that it wasn’t busier. don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of people there but i really thought it would be packed. it was the first weekend of october and a beautiful day, but there were no real long lines anywhere. when we got into the line for the food, we were first {well, there were people in front of us but they were served}. when we got into the line for the apple picking, there was no one waiting in front of us to buy tickets and the next tractor wagon ride that came by, we got on it right away! sweet! that was pretty awesome!
my heart was so full seeing olive so excited to pick apples. she was learning all about it in school the week prior, so i prepped her before our outing and told her we were going to pick apples. she was so stoked to do this! when we were driving in, she saw all the apple trees and couldn’t wait to get out to pick some. she’s so sweet! i love her innocent ways!
we picked golden delicious, empire, and jonathan apples and had a lot fun doing so. yum, yum, yum! i honestly can say that this time around picking apples was the best time we’ve had since we’ve done it. in the past, it’s either been too hot or olive was not having it and it was at times, miserable {but still oddly fun because i love picking apples so much}. this year it was a combo of all good things and that really made it enjoyable.
after we picked, we {as usual} perused the shop and bought a few yummy items. we never leave without apple cider doughnuts! {helloooo, that’s definitely our second purpose} we bought some chocolate covered pretzels, white cheddar popcorn, and apple butter. all items we don’t need, don’t need to consume, but hey, it’s fall y’all!
we hung around for a bit more {relaxing, being silly, and having fun with the kids} and then decided it was time to leave. my how time flies when you are having fun! more than 3 and a half hours later, we were ready to go! we left happy, satisfied with our bags of apples, and all the extra delicious goodies we bought. it was a successful and super fun time apple picking!
happy october!
[ellie sitting in the dirtiest high chair we’ve ever seen…thank you hc for cleaning it]
[“ohhhh snap, did you see what she was wearing?”, said ellie…hahaha!]
[she’s getting excited!]
[the tractor is moving]
[godmother godchild]
[she LOVED picking apples!]
[she totally groaned at me after this pic…she was so exasperated i was taking a picture! ha!]
we had a wonderful day planned! we were getting up early to go apple picking at a fun orchard up north. well, who knew it would be sooooooo dang warm? that was a recipe for disaster!
we had been to royal oak farm a couple years ago and really enjoyed our time there. this time was such a sweet disaster! haha! one, we weren’t dressed right for the oh so hot temperatures. two, olive had multiple meltdowns. three, hc refused to wear the ergo, so he was carrying ellie {not having your hands free when you have two kids is not a smart thing, especially if you are able to avoid it}.
we ate lunch first but the food they offered was very fried, sugary, and limited. the flies and bees were ridiculous. i mean RI-diculous! they were all over us and the food. my mom didn’t want to eat, thuy didn’t want to eat and was a bit grumpy, and we were ready to just go pick apples. although, olive was hilarious about the bugs. she kept giggling, screaming, and saying, “shoo, shoo bug! shoo!”. it was very, very cute!
we got into line to purchase our bags and we all herded onto the hayride towards the orchard. olive thought it was fun and really enjoyed being in the wagon being pulled by the john deere tractor! we arrived at our destination and began apple picking. oh my goodness, it was so hot! it was 90 degrees and the sun was beating down on us! my mom and sister wanted green apples but they weren’t ripe yet, so we kept walking around trying to find green apples. hc didn’t want to hold ellie anymore so he left to go get the stroller. while hc was gone, olive had a few meltdowns and wanted me to do this, that, hold her, she cried, mumbled, and did a bunch of things i couldn’t really help her with because i was holding ellie…sweating in the sun!
he finally made it back to help but olive was on a roll. every time the hayride came by, she wanted to get on it and we told her no and she cried and cried and cried. she didn’t want to pick apples, although i did, we were super hot and sticky, and it was just a bit crazy.
well, in the end, we got our apples, we took some marvelous pictures, and we were ready to go home! i know, what you just read probably sounded like a disaster of an outing but it was a great day despite the hot temps and the tantrums displayed by olive and her mama! ha! yes, if it was cooler, it wouldn’t have been so intense but i still loved that we did it and spent some crazy time together. we were soooooooo ready to go home and shower though!
well, next year we will make sure the temps are low so we don’t melt in the sun when we go apple picking! i am super excited to use the apples to make apple pie and candied apples this coming month! more fun activities to look forward to!
[sweet girl who’s ready to have a few meltdowns. eep]
yay! apple picking is our fall ritual. ok, so we have only done it a few years in a row but hey…it’s become one! it was a sunny, warm day. i had already planned our outfits, regardless of the temps, but i was kind of questioning my tenacity when we stepped outside. it was going to be a hot one! flannels and warm temps don’t really go hand in hand! eep!
well. no matter. we were committed and so we moved forward. we packed ourselves into the car for a quick ride on over to kuiper’s orchard. they had two separate areas for apple picking and pumpkins. i am so used to going to an apple orchard that has pumpkins, so i thought it was different that they were separate.
[ready to go apple picking!]
[my sanity in a cup]
[braids, buffalo, and boots]
[riding dirty]
[twinsies]
[“mom, look!”]
we met up with our family and explored just a bit. first thing on the agenda was eating! we were soooo hangry. hahaha! we traipsed inside to the restaurant. olive was a riot! she was such a hit everywhere she walked. especially coming into this eating establishment. she had her sunnies on and was walking around like a boss! hahaha! we ordered hot dogs and burgers and waited patiently our our food to be served. in the meantime, olive gulped down chocolate milk and got sassy with everyone.
[stomping around like she owns the place]
[drinking chocolate milk in style]
[family time]
[simple please. just mustard]
[nom nom nom, hot dog]
[selfie]
[she’s such a doll]
after noshing on our meals, we headed on over to the apple orchard to go picking! ugh, it was hot standing in the sun and the line was sooooooo long! no matter, we did it. it was finally our turn and when the john deere tractor pulled up, we were so relieved and excited. we packed ourselves in and off to the orchard we went! olive looooved the ‘hay’ ride, when we reached our destination she didn’t want to get off the cart. too cute.
we were greeted by a worker and given directions and advice. once that was done, we were off on our own. olive insisted on walking and anyone who has a toddler who insists on walking knows how slooooooooow they can move. oy vey. we were ten minutes behind everyone! we finally arrived at the ripe trees and started picking some golden delicious apples to take home.
olive did such a great job! she was a pro apple picker! daddy helped and she had a great time picking. it was too stinkin’ cute. i remember last year, she was 9.5 months old and all we did was carry her around. so, it was pretty cool to see her in action and picking apples herself!
[sunshine selfie]
[the sweetest pic. this makes my heart melt…the love for these two]
[twist and pull olive!]
[my precious babe]
[she did well! get it girl!]
[typical pic of the kids. baaahahaha!]
[olive and auntie kim]
[my sweet, darling, loving parents]
[really?!!!! she’s sooooooo cute!]
after apple picking, we perused the shop and purchased a few goodies. we never go home without some apple cider donuts!!!! yum! we bought apple bread, donuts, and brought home our tasty apples so we can bake some apple pie!
it was a wonderful successful day of apple picking. we had a great time with the family and can’t wait to do it again next year! woot!
so, after our apple picking fun, we ended up with a big bag full of delicious apples. buttttt, we couldn’t possibly eat all those apples! what to do. what to do. apple bread? caramel apples? apple pie? why, yes. apple pie. let’s make us some apple pie! i pulled up a recipe from the wonderful wide world of the web.
one night, hc and i got a crackin’ on making us some apple pie. it was total teamwork. he started the walnut base, i washed and peeled the apples, he started the pie crust, i cut and seasoned the apple slices.
[a small but crucial ingredient]
[the main ingredient!]
[slicing apples for the pie]
we both laid down the base of the pie crust. we learned a very important lesson: we should have rolled out the pie crust a little bit more. the issue we were having was that it was super sticky and not rolling out right. we figured out that if you put saran wrap underneath and above it, it rolled out quite nicely. so, before we figured that out…we ended up stretching out the pie dough over the bottom and trying our best to get it up the sides! we did a pretty darn good job.
[placing the crust for the base of the apple pie]
we placed down the base layer of the walnut mix. then the apples were coated with lemon juice, butter, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of salt. i scooped them onto the pie crust and hc proceeded to put the extra pie dough as the top crust. the first pie was okaaaay. the pie crust didn’t stretch out as far as what we wanted it too {remember, we didn’t figure out the rolling part yet!}. but nevertheless, it turned out pretty darn nice.
[cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, butter…yum]
[baking fools!]
[the pie above is the not so great crust pie :p]
our second pie turned out for the better…we rolled the dough out more and had a better pie crust overall. i brushed the top of the pie crust with milk and sprinkled it with sugar. phew! we were almost done!
we had preheated the oven and it was ready to go. we popped the pies into the oven and 55 minutes later, we had delicious pies! the whole house filled up with the sweetest smells. the aroma of apples and cinnamon wafted throughout our abode. it was fantastic.
ta da! our finished, tasty, edible product. i must say…they were delicious pies! it had a flaky crust, the apples were sweet and tender, and the walnuts added in a wonderful texture and nutty flavor. my tastebuds were in heaven!
we had a wonderful time baking these pies. total hubby and wifey teamwork! we still have some apples left…hmmm, what shall i make next?!! happy october y’all!
we were all so excited to go apple pickin’! kim mentioned the idea for reagan’s birthday…and we were all in! it was a perfect, perfect day to be out and about. the weather was just right, the sun was shining and the temperature was casually cool. we couldn’t have asked for a better day!
hc, grace, me, and olive packed ourselves up and got into the car for a loooong ride up to the royal oak farm. hmmmmm, and hour and a half later {um, it felt like two hours, at least!} we finally arrived at our destination. the farm looked amazing, i was super excited! we pulled in, parked, and scurried our way over to meet up with the rest of the gang.
thuy, lan, pete, and avery were already there at the farm. oh, we were starving! food was a top priority. kim, reagan, bennett, and terry arrived a few minutes later and we all met at the restaurant. we pulled some tables together and i held ground while the group bought their food. hc brought back a feast! chicken pot pie, mac n cheese, fruit, pie, bread, oh my! i nibbled from his plate and i gleefully fed olive mac n cheese and chicken pot pie. she is such an eater!
[mac n cheese, rhubarb pie, roll, fruit, chicken pot pie]
after noshing, we quickly peeked at the gift shop. it was soooo crowded! we perused around a bit but decided we wanted to get a start on apple picking. though, we knew we would come back to the shop to buy some goodies! you can’t leave an apple orchard without some sweet treats!
[royal oak gift shop]
[candied apples]
we headed on over to the apple orchard cashier. it was something like $20 per bag and they offered the option to hitch a ride on their hay wagon…duh, of course we wanted to go for a hay ride {hello, it’s also part of our autumn to do!}. we happily spent our time waiting snapping a ton of photos {what we do best!}, of course i have to document everything!
the wagon finally made it’s way back and we were off!
[getting on the wagon hay ride!]
the tractor dropped us off at the north orchard where there were mostly shensu {fuji sweet} and royal empire apples {sweet tart}. we had such a blast searching for apples. the kids had a great time! the orchards were beautiful and it was fantastic being outside in the fresh air!
the kids ran up and down each aisle. they got so excited when they found a decent apple! reagan and bennett were throwing loads of apples into their bag! we picked green ones, red ones, and watercolored ones.
[ready to pick some apples!]
olive helped out with the apple picking too! then grace and hc got creative on how to reach the high ones up on the trees! slowly but surely, we were getting our bag full of yummy apples.
[running through the orchard]
[and i helped!]
[apple picking]
after hitting up most of the north orchard, we started walking back. olive needed a diapy change and a feeding. of course, we snapped a lot of fun photos along the way. these kids are too cute together. best cousin combo evah!
[cousins]
[hanging out]
hc and grace ran to the other orchard to finish filling up our apple bag. while they did that, we perused another shop by their pumpkin patch {where they sold pumpkins, gourds, honey, and more decorative fall stuff}. i was really loving this orchard! there were so many fun things to do and it was a really nice atmosphere.
next on our list was the petting zoo. as we made our way towards the petting zoo, the farm also had a huge play area for the kids! they had a carousel, tee pee, a train ride, and lots and lots of play houses, cars, slides, etc. the kids were climbing all over everything, running in and out of the play house, and just having a good ol’ time playing with one another.
the kids finally made it to the petting zoo {after playing and playing and playing on the playground}. it was too funny to see reagan and bennett wanting to feed the animals but absolutely scared at the same time! they were worried that they would bite them, so i had to feed the animals first to show them that it was harmless. they were convinced and they were feeding pros within minutes!
[the sun is setting on this perfect day]
after the petting zoo and all the other things we did that afternoon, it was getting late. the farm was only open for another hour or so, so we decided to hit the gift shop for some last minute purchases. of course i had to pick up some apple cider donuts {copious amounts}!! yum. yum. yum. i grabbed a dozen for us, a dozen for the dick and jane, and two packages of mini donuts for kim and my dad! donuts for everyone! i picked up pancake mix, a cute little strawberry knit hat for olive, and a few toys for the birthday boy!
it was such a wonderful, gorgeous day. we had the best time with our friends and family! it was beautiful out and the farm was ah-maze. we loved apple picking {i smell a homemade apple pie in our near future!} and totally taking in all the glory of a fantastic fall day. every activity we did was so lovely and fun. plus, we came home with the best goodies!
happy birthday to the most wonderful, quirky, funny, sweet nephew ever! we love you so much reagan!!!
[reaching for the stars]
