Apple Orchard

Drew started a three week long training class for work today, so he's working days during the week for the next three weeks.  Today was probably the last pretty warm day that we're going to have, so we decided to take advantage of it and take a quick trip to the apple orchard once Drew got home from class.  We didn't have much time, but you don't exactly need that much time when the whole purpose of the trip is donuts and apples, right?  And, we had to take the annual family picture by the sign!

We took pictures as soon as we got there.  After pictures, we went into the barn and got some donuts, apples, and apple butter.  Then, we stopped and grabbed a bite to eat before letting Annelise run around and play for a little bit.

I was actually starting to get a little worried that we wouldn't make it out there.  Annelise can handle a little bit of chilly weather, but I wouldn't want to take Harrison if it was too cold.  So, I'm really glad that we made it to the apple orchard today.

Pumpkin Patch

Nothing screams fall more than trips to the Pumpkin Patch and Apple Orchard.  Today, we all went to the Pumpkin Patch.  Annelise had an absolute blast, Harrison was mainly along for the ride, and Drew and I love seeing the joy on Annelise's face.

The first thing that we did was get a wrist band so that Annelise could ride the ponies and jump on the inflatables.

After watching her ride, I'm fairly certain that she could ride by herself without us next to her.  I just can't get over how fast she's growing up.

After the pony ride, we took the obligatory family picture in front of the pumpkin.

Annelise spotted the inflatables, so we made our way over to them so she could slide and bounce for a little bit.  Harrison and I hung out while Drew stuck close to Annelise.

Drew and I were starting to get hungry, so we sweet talked Annelise into getting out of the bounce house and going and getting some lunch.  After lunch, we took Annelise to look at the animals.  She got a kick out of the ducks, and one of them kept quacking at her.

Then, we picked out our pumpkins.  We decided not to go pick our own this year since it was so windy.  If I would have been able to leave Harrison in the stroller and out of the wind, we would have gone, but I didn't want to make him miserable.

Annelise asked to have a cookie while we were paying for the pumpkins.  I agreed since she had been so good.  We put her in the wagon to ride out to the car.  Once we got out there, Drew looked at me and asked if she had opened the cookie all by herself.  Uh, duh!  I love being able to experience all these firsts again with Harrison.  But, I also know that next year will be even more fun when he's older and able to enjoy them more.

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Drew, Annelise, and I went to the Pumpkin Patch this afternoon!  It was a gorgeous fall day, and we knew we had to take advantage of what will probably be one of the last ones.  Annelise had a great time running around, and I really loved making the memories.  Doing the fall activities, like the apple orchard and pumpkin patch, is something that I always dreamed about doing with my kids.

Annelise loved being able to pet the goats.  We didn't have any change on us to get the pellet food, so Annelise made due with feeding them some leaves from the ground.

After we took our obligatory family pictures with the pumpkin, we grabbed something to eat.  After that, we took Annelise on her very first pony ride!  She had a blast!

See how excited she was!  She was not very happy about having to get off, and immediately started signing "more".  She quickly calmed down though when we told her we were going to look at some other things and that we'd be taking a wagon ride.

We walked around a little bit to check out what was left to see, and then we made our way over to where the wagon picks you up to go pick your own pumpkin.  We found three great pumpkins and, once we took the wagon ride back, put them in a wagon to go pay for them.  Annelise insisted on riding with them.

That girl absolutely loves to ride in the wagon.  I love days like today when we can make so many fun memories as a family.  I know that Annelise won't remember them, but she'll have pictures to look back at.

Fabulous Fall Day

Drew and I took Annelise to Edward's Apple Orchard today.  The weather was absolutely amazing today!  Beautifully sunny and in the upper 70s!  You can't get much better than that.

When we first arrived, we let Annelise see some of the animals and run around the playground for a little bit. 

I tried to have her stand by height measuring photo board, but she was NOT having it!

That's about as good as we could get.  She really just wanted to run around. 

We went for a horse drawn wagon ride around the orchard.  Annelise really loved seeing the horses and she was even allowed to pet them afterwards!

Of course, no trip to the orchard is complete without buying some apple cider doughnuts and apples!  We stocked ourselves up and said farewell to the orchard.  I have a feeling that we'll make another trip back before the end of the season. 

Fall Fest Parade

The weekend after Labor Day is when Roscoe puts on the annual Fall Festival.  It usually runs Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with a parade Sunday morning.  I went many years when I was younger, and I was so excited to take Annelise this year.

Drew and I drove up there Friday night to walk around some, and so that Annelise could ride some rides.  She absolutely LOVES riding rides.  I usually start by taking her down the big slide, and then move to some of the other rides.  I think her favorite is the dragon roller coaster.  As soon as she sees it, she starts signing "more" and wants to run over to it.  While she's on the ride, she never once cracks a smile, or acts like she enjoys it.  She just sits there all content, enjoying the ride.  As soon as the ride stops, she hops up to get off, but then immediately starts signing "more" to go again.

Today, Rachel and I took Annelise to the parade in the morning.  I was excited to take her because I thought she would really enjoy seeing the bands and the local dance teams and cheerleaders.  She did enjoy it, but she also enjoyed collecting the candy that is thrown out.

It took her a little bit to get the hang of picking the candy up and putting it in the bag, but once she did, she was all over it.  She would run and pick up the candy, then toddle over to put it in the bag, then run back to me for me to pick her up.  When some more people came along and threw candy out, she would wiggle to get down, run grab the candy, and repeat the whole process.  And those Dum Dum suckers?  She absolutely loves them!

We're trying to entertain ourselves while waiting for the parade to start.

I went through her bag of stuff tonight and found a temporary tattoo and thought I'd put it on her.  Her mind is always blown whenever she gets a hand stamp at Kindermusik, so I knew she'd be amazed at the tattoo.

She just kept staring at it, and touching it.  It was so funny!

Swingin'

Today was probably the last warm day until next year.  It got into the mid-60s, and I couldn't let today go by without taking Annelise outside one more time.  I packed her up in the stroller, put Maya on her leash, and we set off to the park.

Annelise got to swing on a swing for the first time today, and she had a great time!  She was all smiles and was giggling like crazy.

It was pretty windy while we were there, and she tried to catch the wind with her tongue.  So cute!

I can't wait until spring is here again.

Fall Traditions

You can't let the fall season go by without at least one trip to Edward's Apple Orchard.  My mother-in-law, Debbie, called me this afternoon and asked if Annelise and I wanted to go out there with her.  I jumped at the chance because I've been wanting to take Annelise.  And who can turn down apple cider donuts??

I decided to wear Annelise while we were there.  I'll tell you what, I love being able to wear her places.  It makes it so easy to move around and I don't have to worry about navigating the stroller in tight places.  Plus, since they were busy today, I would have had to take her out of the stroller when we went into the store anyway.  Then, I would have had to carry her in my arms.  Baby wearing is definitely where it's at!

I gave Annelise a slice of an apple while we were there and she happily gnawed on it while Debbie and I shopped around.

I hope that we'll be able to squeeze in a trip to the Pumpkin Patch before it gets too cold outside.  I love fall and all of the fall stuff that goes with it!

Fall Weekend

This weekend was such a perfect fall weekend.  The leaves are changing and are absolutely gorgeous.  I love this time when some trees are starting to turn and are gorgeous shades of reds and yellows and oranges, and some trees are still in their full green splendor.  Saturday was close to 80 degrees and today was close to 70 degrees.  Just perfect!

Yesterday, Drew and I took Annelise over to a nearby park to shoot her 6 month pictures.  She did very well and I got so many cute images.  Here's a little sneak peak.

I literally squealed when I saw this one.  How cute is my baby?!?!

After pictures, we took my mom out to dinner for her birthday.  We went to Old Chicago.  Annelise tried some lemon (loved), avocado (not a fan), and cucumber (loved).

Today, Drew and I did a few things around the house this morning.  The guy who has been doing some work on our house, Jim, has a horse, so we met him and his daughter at the stables where he boards the horse, and took turns riding him.

Annelise wasn't quite sure what to think about it.  I do love exposing her to all these new things though.

After horseback riding, we took a quick trip to a friend's house, then home.  We grilled out for dinner and Annelise got her first taste of zucchini.

She seemed to really like it.  It was so cute to watch her suck the fleshy part from the rind part of it.  I am starting to really like feeding her solids, and she seems to really be enjoying it.  She loves to explore the new foods that I'm giving her and she does really well with moving them in her hands and to her mouth.

I'm sad that the weekend is already over.  Can you believe that it's October already?  There will be so many fun things happening this month!

Apple Pickin'

Last weekend, Drew and I went to Edwards Apple Orchard with Rachel and her boyfriend, Adam. The whole reason I wanted to go, besides to get doughnuts, was to pick apples. Unfortunately, apple picking didn't open until Wednesday. So, I made Drew go again today to pick apples.
The only apples that we could pick today was Jonamac.

Some of them were huge!

There was only one size bag that we could use to pick apples and when the bag was filled, it came out to be a half bushel. Have you seen a half bushel? Well, we got about 40 apples! Needless to say, I came home and looked up a bunch of recipes. There will be many apple themed treats in our house for the next couple of weeks.