How do ya like them apples?

We had a gorgeous day on Friday for apple picking. It was 75 degrees and sunny. The only down side was having to contend with the yellow jackets resolved on getting their fill of rotting fruit. Apple picking for us is one of those quintessential fall activities. Even in the midst of chaos and having babies, I don't think we've missed a single year. It's amusing to look at these pictures and recall years past when we were bundled in coats and wearing gloves because it was so cold.

Ruth and Claire-- adorable!

We went to Sunset Orchard in Scituate this year. That's almost as much of a tradition as the apple picking itself. It seems every time we try a new place we're unhappy with it. This year we went to Steere Orchard first and felt it was not very family friendly. Much to the kid's chagrin after traveling over an hour, we piled back into the car to drive ten minutes further to Sunset.

Every time I see a tractor I take a picture of Drew with it or on it. His obsession with tractors has waned but I still do it, even despite his recent aversion to getting his picture taken.

Anne looking all grown up and beautiful.

Elinor and Daddy-- pure cuteness!

I don't think anyone appreciates how hard it is to get several kids to smile on command.

Sharing.

Lovin' on Daddy!

Anne in action!

Dad steeling a bite of unsuspecting Drew's apple.

More love... Notice the death grip on Claire's apple bag. She insisted on carrying it the whole time and wouldn't allow us to help even when it was obviously getting awkwardly heavy for her.

I know; how often do you see me in a photo? Sometimes I look through our pictures and have to tell myself I was actually there.

We picked a little over 40 lbs of Cortlands, Red Delicious, Macoun, RI Greening, and Macintosh apples. I plan to make a pie this week and do caramel apples with the kids. Then we'll peel, slice and freeze the rest to use throughout the winter as we wish-- a fantastic investment return for only a couple hours of "work".

 

Anne's Birthday

Our oldest daughter turned 10 on September 16th. It blows my mind to think that ten birthdays have come and gone for her. I already find myself dreading the day she decides to head out on her own-- that day will come sooner than we can imagine I'm sure.
 We didn't have a party for her yet; that will happen tomorrow. However we did have a few surprises to celebrate this milestone.

We were watching a show on the travel channel together the night before her birthday. It featured a restaurant that served giant pancakes with all sorts of toppings from savory goat cheese and bacon to fruits and sauces to satisfy any sweet tooth. I surprised her in the morning with my take on it. Large bittersweet chocolate chips and fresh bananas and strawberries piled on my whole wheat kefir triple-size pancakes were a very yummy breakfast treat!

 

Here's Anne enjoying them! We also gave her a NOOK.

There is a cleaners down the road that will, for a small fee, post a message on their front sign. We put $20 to good use for this. The hand drawn "H" was a bit of a dissapointment but we really can't complain when posting an item for sale in the classifieds costs so much more.

 

 

You may want to sit down for this next picture. Anne asked if I would make her a watermelon cake for her party. I very excitedly said yes thinking it would be the easiest cake in the world. Well, it wasn't. The plan I had backfired when I realized I didn't have enough cake to do all the carving I intended. Each guest would have gotten about a square inch of cake. That simply wouldn't do. I then decided to cut each tier in half and lay it on its side and build out with extra cake in the middle. It was a complete disaster. I will apologize ahead to those who will be eating this tomorrow. 

Would you ever guess that this...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

is under this?  

If only we could throw a bunch of fondant over all our mistakes and call them good!