Another Great Trip to the Apple Orchard...

For the second year in a row we took the girls apple picking to send off summer and welcome in autumn. We went back to our usual haunt, Royal Oak orchard in Harvard, Illinois. In addition to the four of us, we joined up with Dave's family. Dan, Nickie, Irene, and Ed all joined us at orchard.



It was a very hot day and the sun was extraordinarily bright. We packed pairs of jeans and sweatshirts but never came close to needed them. It was a beautiful day. We went straight to the orchard and picked a bushel of courland, fiji, and senshu apples. It was a good thing we brought the stroller. Not because the girls needed it, in fact they walked the entire day, but it was a great way to carry all the apples we picked back to the car.



Erin and Evelyn had a ton of fun at the orchard. They were so cute crawling under the branches of the trees and reaching up to grab the biggest apples. Even though this is the second year they come apple picking, we're not sure if they are totally in on the concept. Instead of putting the apples in our bags, they kept reaching into our bag grabbing the apples out, taking a single bite out of them and then throwing them on the ground.



After picking our apples we ate at a restaurant located inside the orchard. The line was very long and the food was fine, but probably not worth the wait. When we finished lunch we went to a petting zoo where the girls got to see a sheep, chickens, turkeys, and geese. Erin and Evelyn were expertly naming all of the animals but there was no way they were going to get close enough to pet them. Perhaps next year.

Speaking of next year, we have to remember that next to the petting zoo is an area where you can buy brats and ears of corn. There was no line and the food looked really good. That's the place we have to go next year instead of the restaurant.

On the way home Erin passed out in her car seat almost instantly. Ev wouldn't go to sleep for her nap. Instead she was just singing and looking out the window. When we told her to close her eyes and take a nap she told us, "No sleep" and kept singing.

As we drove back to our house Nancy and I looked up recipes for apple pies on our cell phones and stopped at a grocery storey to pick up some ingredients we didn't have. We invited our friends Sean and Jen over to help us eat our apple pie and the pot roast we had stewing in the croc pot all day. Erin and Evelyn played with their daughter and then passed out asleep at about 7:15. What a terrific day - can't wait to go pickin next year!