Harvest Festival

In case you were wondering, Ella is a ladybug princess and McKenna is a leopard.

Cotton Pickin' Pumpkins

Tate Farms is a super fun place. While in Alabama, the family all met here for a fun fall time activity. There were gourds o' plenty and with plenty o' variety. I have never in my life seen so many different gourds. There were tons of play and climbing structures, many of which resembled a John Deere Tractor.

Check this blog posting again. I actually have a few more pictures to upload and add to this post.

Lynda, Haley and Ella watching us in the hay maze

Cioci Lynda and Max

Hayden in the corn crib!

The petting zoo area

A pretty big gourd!

Sara and Shannon

Poppy!

Gone Apple Pickin'

This particular day was so beautiful I could hardly stand it. Ella and I zoomed over to the school and took McKenna a bit early. We grabbed Mammy and headed to the apple orchard. The girls and I so enjoy picking apples each fall. McKenna likes to remind us to "twist and pull."

We prefer this orchard for a few reasons. One is the hay mountain.

Another is the petting farm area.

Of course, don't forget the hay ride to the orchard and pumpkin patch.






We like picking raspberries too!

And, posing for a few pictures!

Apples, Apples, Apples

This weekend we took our yearly trip to the apple orchard. Visiting an apple orchard is something (one of the few things) I missed out on growing up in Alabama. (Side note: SEC Football is something I miss out on here in Minnesota). We met our good friends, J & K Madison (and Levi) there.

I love visiting the orchard. What a perfect family outing. I have many pictures to share. I know that you all might not enjoy EVERY SINGLE photo the way that I do. However, remember that this blog will serve as a photo album/scrapbook for my children. That is why I include lots of pictures. I fully intend to print this blog in a book form.


The day started with a hayride. There are many varieties of apples to choose from. Generally, I like the sweeter ones. I know that for baking/cooking the cook books suggest a more tart apple. I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old--we went for the sweeter ones. We chose Sweet 16. Normally I would have gone with Honeycrisp but they weren't an option that day.

It's fun to watch the girls as they pick. Ella likes to pick smaller red ones. She doesn't fully exam them BEFORE she picks. I tried, unsuccessfully, explaining that to her. She would pick one and then, if she saw something she didn't like--a speck of dirt, a bug, too big of a stem, a dent, etc...she tossed it. Daddy and I tried to pick up after her but, my goodness. McKenna was more methodical about her apple picking. She had similar criteria but chose large apples rather than small apples. She also learned to examine them BEFORE she picked them. Something that she acquired on this year's trip.

Mmmm......

The pumpkin patch (they have several-pie pumpkins, carving pumpkins, mini pumpkins) is right next to the sweet apples. So, we perused through the pumpkins and took a few photos. Then back on the hayride to go to the playground.

By the playground there is a small petting farm area and a hay mountain to climb. They also have a cow tractor ride that Ella and Levi enjoyed. On the hay mountain, kids like to dig away portions of the hay to make holes or tunnels. McKenna wanted to get in a hole and have me take a picture of her peeking out. She peeked a bit too close to the hay and her eyes were irritated for a while. But all is well.

Notice that we are all in our fall colored T's from Target! I got them each on sale for less than $5.00!! =)

There is also a raspberry patch. McKenna thoroughly enjoys picking the raspberries and Arthur and I thoroughly enjoy eating them.