Apple Picking

On October 2nd our friends Becky and Jon took us too an organic apple orchard, Bear Swamp Orchard, that they had discovered this year! They were clearly very excited to share their find, and we knew why as soon as we saw the view in the picture above! The orchard is beautiful!! Becky's friend Kelly and her daughter C. joined us too!



We started our trip to the orchard eating a picnic lunch out in the middle of the field, overlooking the beautiful view! I have to say, there is nothing better than dining outside on bread, cheeses, hummus, pesto and fresh tomatoes, with that view to stare at! And it was just beautiful out!

After eating, we let the older kids run around a bit, and I took a few pictures (Of course....what else would I be doing?!)

Ella loved getting down in the grass and exploring:



Kelly, Baby C., Gage and Jon chatting at the picnic table where we ate lunch:


Gage LOVES to be in the grass!


Becky says he gets such a look of calm when he lays in the grass! I love how this picture shows how much he enjoys it! (unfortunately the picture should be rotated....I'm a bit upset that it loaded this way, even after I rotated the actual image file!)


Violet loved getting a chance to explore a bit too!



All ready to go pick apples:


Of course we all enjoyed picking the apples! No good action shots though. This is the best I got:


And then this happened:


(Don't worry...Kyan was enjoying it! He kept asking to be dragged over and over again, and was laughing hysterically! )

Of course we had to catch the kids eating an apple!


I love the way Lily is looking at Kyan here!


And then they started running hand in hand down the field! Are these two meant to be or what?! (Pictures came out horribly of this, but I still have to share, because it was so funny and cute!)


After picking apples we took the kids into the barn to see the sheep and llama, while the adults were paying (of course Auntie Amelia.Mommy was on kid/picture duty!)

Kyan was fascinated by the sheep!


And they were a little terrified of him!


Actually, I talked with the owner of the farm a little bit, and the sheep were actually afraid of their llama, who was new! The got the llama to protect the sheep, but the poor things wont go near it!!

Jon joined us in the barn! I love this picture, with Kyan peaking out at me!


Mean while, Violet was hanging out on Daddy's back, (Ella was on my back), and Sean, Kelly, and Becky were talking to the owners about their organic practices and managing the orchard! They were very friendly, and chatted with us for a while!


While Lily was bugging the poor son of the owners, who was just trying to do his farm chores!


She wanted to help him so badly!

It was a wonderful at the orchard! We couldn't have asked for better weather, a better lunch, a better view, and better company! After we left the farm we headed back to Becky's house, where she made us a wonderful dinner of pulled pork and green beans with bacon! I'll be craving that for a while! So good! (I think pulled pork will become one of my weight loss goal rewards after this dinner!)

I'm so grateful we have such great friends that we can go do these fun fall activities with! It makes them that much more memorable and enjoyable!