Apple Orchard....in the rain

Wow, it has been quite a rainy fall so far. I can count on one hand the number of beautiful, sunny days we've had that are conducive for outdoor fun. And I do love those rainy days when I can stay in my pajamas, avoid mirrors, and drink 13 cups of coffee; but I love them a lot less when the kids use their pent-up energy to tear apart the house and compete in 'who can cry the most times in 5 minutes' competitions. Can you say stir-crazy??

Our weekly playgroup has been trying to organize a field-trip to Lynd's Fruit Farm for several weeks to pick apples with the kids and if we waited for that perfect sunny day, then it probably wasn't going to happen. So we headed out this morning despite it being a cold and gloomy, rainy day. I had the kids dressed in cute coordinating, fall-ish outfits and had visions of photographing them skipping together through the orchards, laughing for the perfect candid shots. But instead they were bundled in warm coats with their noses running and soaked up to their knees from the constant tripping over fallen apples. Eli had a blast filling up his bag and running around with his friends while Norah just kind of stood there looking at me with a "what did I ever do to you to be standing here in the rain?" kind of face.  

We crammed our bag full with all the apples it would hold and then hurried back to our cars so we could blast the heat and get to the lunch part of our day. My sister Rebecca and I spent the rest of the afternoon channeling our inner Martha Stewarts and cranking out monstrous batches of delicious home-made applesauce.  It was a fun day and one of my favorite fall traditions to look forward to each year.

See that look I'm talking about?

 Eli was very into it. He was ducking under branches and always 10 steps ahead of me

Our Friends Izzy, Monica, and Caleb

A partial representation of the kids, none being in the mood to smile 

This is a really foul picture of me, but I love Eli's fake smile too much not to post it

All hands on deck to help out with the applesauce making. And one very patient daddy.

The fruits of our labor. These 11 jars will likely only last a few months in our house with the way our kids eat applesauce, but it feels nice to have a fully stocked supply to kick off the fall.