Apple Picking

This if from a while ago, but I thought the pictures were too sweet not to post.  Back in September? earlier October? the kids and I went apple picking along with Adele and her family, and my brother, sister-in-law, and baby Claire.  The trees were full of fruit with lots of branches low to the ground.  Both kids loved grabbing apples and throwing them in our bag.  We picked 25lbs + of apples.  I had many great plans for these apples such as apple muffins and apple pie, but the only thing I made was applesauce.  Mostly we have just been eating the apples just as they are.  William loves to eat whole apples.  He usually only eats about a third of the apple but with so many pounds of apples, I don't mind a little waste.  He likes to take a big bite out of the apple, spit out the peel and then continue to eat the inside.  I've tried peeling the apple first to see if he would eat it that way, but that just makes him mad!  So bite, spit, eat is our main way of consuming apples. 

At the apple orchard, they also had a fall festival that including a play area for little kids, a petting zoo, several bounce houses, and a barrel ride.  William was too small to do most things, but Eliana loved the bounce houses!  William desperately wanted to join in on the jumping, but he had to settle for bouncing a little on the outside of the bounce house while we looked in the window at Eliana.  Maybe next year!  I did let him try out the barrel ride.  I put the kids together in one barrel and buckled them in.  William was really excited about the stirring wheel.  I told Eliana to watch out for William, and she put a protective arm around him.  All was going well until about halfway through the ride when William slid down the seat into the bottom of the barrel.  Eliana did not have the strength to pull him back up on the seat.  He was still safe - he was sitting on the floor of the barrel with the buckle now around his upper chest instead of his waist, but boy did he not like that!  Luckily another parent was nearby when it happened and kindly pulled him back up on the seat.  (The barrel ride traveled very slowly.)  Overall, they had fun but I guess technically William was a little small for that ride too.  We had a great time, and apple picking is always a must for fall activities. 

William and Eliana with their cousin Claire.

My sweeties.  William was quite expressive this trip, knowing how to say both "apple" and "ball," which is what he called the many apples that he saw.

Eliana and Adele dancing.  They played a game in which they pretended they had a house under the branches of an apple tree.

Enjoying the barrel ride!