Fall is HERE! I love Fall. I enjoy the colors, the falling leaves, but I think I really just love the cooler air, the respite from the hot, sticky Summer. Of course, we all like Summer at first but then it gets really hot and it loses its appeal pretty quickly.
So, back to Fall. Our windows are all open, and have been so mostly for a few weeks. The new screen door (yay, Ross!) is used all day long to let the cool air in and keep the flies out. And, we are not currently paying $$$ for heating and/or cooling - hooray! What more can you ask for?
Along with the cool air comes new fruits and veggies. Apples and pumpkins are my favorites. We went pumpkin picking last year in late October, which was awesome, but the drought had been bad that the apples were few and far between. I think the place went to even had to ship apples in because of it. Not this year though.
Sunday, we went to Sky Top Orchard, just over the state line in North Carolina. It is a super fun place - very simple, but with everything you need for an enjoyable day. The location is awesome. It is high up on a "mountain" (people in the Rockies might call it a big hill, but here it is a mountain) and the view is awesome. You can see neighboring hills and valleys and the lines of apple trees stretch out as far as the eye can see. They have play areas for the kids, as well as some animals, a bamboo forest, and tractor rides across the property. Not to mention apple cider slushies and apple cider doughnuts. Yum-o. We packed a picnic lunch so we were able to go pick our apples, have lunch under a shade tree, then go back for doughnuts and a tractor ride. So fun!
Reid loved walking through the trees, picking apples. He thinks he likes apples. He really does. He has been successfully brainwashed to say things like, "Apples are delicious. So juicy!" He's so excited to take a bite and then... promptly spit it out, the whole time saying how great it is. He will do it over and over. So, I now have a peck of apples that we won't be able to eat as-is. I know I will make some apple crisp, but we can't have that lying around all the time, so I may try prepping and freezing some for use later. We'll see.
Here are some pictures from the apple picking trip - enjoy! (I'm sure we'll have pumpkin picking photos in the near future...)
Taking a big bite... seems like he likes it....
Inspecting the apple. Notice all the bite marks from previous attempts.
At our picnic lunch. He is literally saying, "No mommy, don't take a picture of my picnic."
The measurement might not be so accurate, since he wouldn't stand up straight and the sun was in his eyes, but it sure is cute!
Peeking out of the Apple House.
On the hayride, minus the hay.
Awesome view!
Trying to convince him to actually eat the apples... Look at his little face. He's like, "No, I don't think so."
Gotta get those good ones!
We'll do anything for those high apples at the top!
Two little pumpkins. Reid helped paint the first one last week (love the yarn "hair") and the other one came home with us today. Apparently several candy corns were lost in an effort to give this little guy a nose. What can I say? My kid loves candy corn. :) 
This was painted with a marble rolled in paint. Pretty neat!
The potato family. Okay, technically not fall-inspired, but they were also learning about family at the beginning of the month. Hopefully, all the students had to use potatoes and this is not meant to be a social commentary of the shape of our family. Hmmm?
More pumpkins. I expect the theme to last through Thanksgiving. Maybe I can keep a running tally of all the pumpkins through November. These were made with his painted knuckles...
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