Apples, Apples everywhere!

Fall is here and the month of October is always so much fun! By that I mean that all these activities for the kids are going on. Hubby and I took the girls to the Harvest Festival at Rockledge ranch. They had all kinds of activities for kids. They had a candy scramble where the kids got to get in a pile of hay and dig around for candy. They had a maze built from hay-bales that included tunnels and everything. Courtney had a ball! They also had a tractor ride. One of our cadets was over and tagged along with us. It was beautiful weather and so much fun!




Today was a super fun day! Kelly and I took the girls apple picking! Let me give you some background first. Here in CO, if you want to pick apples you have to head south about 45 min. The next town down, Penrose, has lots of farms with apple orchards. The most well known is the Happy Apple. They really cater to us city slickers. They have a lot of things to pick too, like apples, pumpkins, berries, etc. Of course you have to be sure what you want is in season. They also provide a wagon ride or tractor ride to get there (a trailer behind a tractor).

However, since they are the best known farm in Penrose they charge an arm and a leg for apples! Plus, because they are so popular, they get picked over really fast. So, even now if you want apples, and you go there, you have to buy a box of them. Which I found out today doesn't even come from their farm, but other local farms. They are charging $55 a bushel.

Another mom from MOPS shared info with me about a guy who had an apple farm that he has basically as a hobby. So, he lets families come and pick apples for $12 a bushel. Quite the price difference! And it was just his farm, so there were no other families to compete with or worry about. It was so fun! The girls could have the freedom to wander around and do what they wanted without us having to worry about them getting in the way of others, or getting too far from us. And he had so many different kinds of apples!

Courtney would pick an apple and take a bite, and pick an apple and take a bite. At one point she had an armful of about 6 apples that she tried to put in our basket, but they all had a bite missing out of all of them. It was so cute! Hailey and Courtney had so much fun because they got to do their own thing. The two of them wandered around the orchard picking apples and eating them. Kinsey had a great time picking apples and putting them in the baskets.
Kelly and I each gathered a basket, totaling 1 bushel between us. So, we paid our $12 and headed out.

Then we headed over to the Happy Apple. We took advantage of the free tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch. The girls all picked out a pumpkin. After we paid for the pumpkins we decided to eat lunch at their little cafe. I had a turkey leg, I love turkey legs! Then we got each girl a lollipop and loaded they up in the car and headed for home with 4 very tired girls!
We got home and we had sooo many apples! Hubby and I made homemade applesauce first. I now have an apple bread baking in the oven. And we still have tons of apples left, so I think I see a lot more apple bread and applesauce in my future.

I forgot to mention last post that Kasey now says Mama and Dada. Today she actually said Daddy! This has all taken place just in the last week. It's so cute to hear!

I had such a fun day today! The girls didn't nap, so they were both pretty wiped. Kasey took a short nap around dinnertime. We put Courtney down early and she just crashed! I have a feeling I will too! Hopefully I will get some pictures from Kelly too and I can post them here also! Hope everyone is well!