An Apple Picnic

Like everyone else in fall fruit mode, this past weekend we went to a nearby farm to pick apples!  This was the first time picking apples for both Sean and Owen, and both enjoyed the experience.  It took us awhile to find the apple row approved of by me, as I am a very apple-picky picker, and did not want to arrive home with a crate of macintosh apples, or the equivalent.  After a tiny bit of trudging, however, we found the rows marked Stayman Winesaps (my mother’s favorite apple!), and got to work.

Both Sean and I were rather amazed and dismayed at the amount of apples that end up lying and rotting under the trees!  But perhaps on a farm they eventually get used for something?  Or maybe they fertilize the trees themselves?  At any rate, the trees were chock full of apples, both on the branches and on the ground underneath, and Owen had a very good time picking apples and putting them into the crate for Sean to carry.

He gets the word “picking” and “picnic” mixed up, so as he walked down the rows of trees he kept talking about how we were on an apple picnic – but then we tested out a granny smith so made his words come true.

We then headed over to the pumpkin festival side of the farm, where we sampled some cider donuts, ignored the funnel cakes and deep-fried everything, and Owen got to experience his first pony ride.  He was a brave and willing cowboy.  Owen and I also went on a little train ride:

And an added bonus:  Owen, who no longer naps, fell asleep in the car on the way home!  So although we made a wrong turn and ended up going the long way, all was well, because Owen slept and then woke up happy.

Now we have a crate of apples, and a lot of plans of what to do with them.  I’m going to try some apple granola, and a recipe I’ve wanted to try for years – Rosie’s apple caramel casserole, and Sean has plans to make his first ever pie.  It turns out that someone else likes apples as well: