First Day of Fall - How do you like them apples??

Esther is in a classifying phase - she loves to sort everything!

She also loves to compare: Are you the same as me? Often when we are eating, she'll ask if you like what we are eating. And every time she asks, "Do you like apples?" I think of Good Will Hunting, and giggle a little to myself:

Do you like apples?
Yeah...
Well, I got her number - how do you them apples??

To celebrate the first day of Fall - and the perfectly Fall-ish weather we are having! - we went apple picking at Meadowlark Farm.

The actual picking takes about 3 minutes. But life's more about the journey, right? We picked up our buckets, loaded up the wagon and made our way out to the orchard.

Per our instructions from the orchard owner, we passed the [billy] goat pen, then crossed the foot bridge - we looked for trolls under the bridge, but didn't see any, thankfully.

Based on the owner's recommendation, we were on the lookout for Jonagold (solid multipurpose apple, great for baking or just eating) and Empire (a sweet, strong-flavored apple great for baking!). The kids are eager pickers, and we quickly filled our buckets.

Then I made the kids pose with a freshly picked apple and stare into the sun.

Esther had some feelings about it

 On our way back in, Jonah volunteered to pull the cart - what a guy!

Jonah pulled the cart almost all the way back in....but abandoned ship once he spotted the playground. We spent a little time swinging and sliding before packing up and heading home.  Levi was glad to get out of the Ergo and wiggle around a little bit.

We put Levi in the swing with Esther, which they both LOVED! ...But then when we tried to get them out, their chubby little thighs were stuck!!  Oops. It took a little wrangling, but we managed to free them both - whew.

Happy Fall!  Here's to cooler weather, longer nights, sweaters, boots and fewer bugs!!