Fitting it all in....

We've had such a lovely fall weekend. Perfect cool-but-not-cold weather. Perfect motivation to pull out the light jackets and jeans and boots. And with Autumn officially here, its clear that these days won't last. The pressure is on to get outside and enjoy the sunshine while we've still got it.

So the kids and I ventured out on an all-afternoon outing.

Our first stop was a local orchard to pick our own apples. Honey Crisp, Cortland and Haralson apples were all ripe for the picking.







The light was so beautiful at the orchard, filtering in between the leaves.  I could have stayed all afternoon to take pictures, but of course, I was lucky that the kids allowed me to get a precious few.  "Mom, our bags are full. Let's go. What's next? C'mon mom...."

I guess I'll take what I can get!





Anna was happy to pick every apple she could reach and fill her bag to the very top.  But when I asked her to help carry her bag back to the car, she flopped in protest.  Then she threw her arms out, and landed her hand right in a patch of itch weed.  So, with my poor dear in tears, guess who carried the bag of apples and Anna back to the car?? 

(thankfully, she recovered quickly!  Darn that itch weed!)





Then, we were off to the best pumpkin patch around.  Barten's Pumpkins.  It's a family run business just down the road from us. And clearly, the entire family is involved in the operation. We arrived just as everyone was heading into the field to pick more pumpkins. But I have no idea where they were going to put them.  We've never seen so many pumpkins.  All shapes and sizes and colors. Of course, Henry and Anna were thrilled, searching for just the right one (or dozen!) We filled our trunk, and my guess is that we'll be back another few times before Halloween.  (FYI: Best prices too - all on your honor. Totally worth the trip!)








(Hmmmm, guess who got tired of having her picture taken?  But Henry was offering me perma-grin, just as instructed.  :)

And finally as we headed back towards home, with both pumpkins and apples rolling around in my truck, the kids asked for one more stop.  "Mom, can we pleeeeeaaaaase go to the park?  It's so nice outside." 

How could I resist?





(Notice the concentration on sister's face.  She recently learned to "pump" on her own as she swings, and so she puts all her effort into it. Yet another "big girl" milestone.)





Finally home.  The kids headed downstairs to watch a movie, and I jumped at the chance to have the kitchen all to myself.  Normally, I would have invited everyone up to help peel and slice and toss and smother the apples in sugar and cinnamon and butter.  But tonight, I was ready for a little baking therapy solitude......

The sun was getting low, and warming up my kitchen with even more gorgeous light.





It was a perfect autumn day. With the exception of the itch weed, I'm hoping for another month (or two - I'm the eternal optimist) of weekends like this.

There is just so much more to fit in before the snow flies.....