Apple Picking

In current news:

1) Mary, Michael Jr, and I all still have the cough that won't quit. It's really starting to get on my nerves. And making my head hurt.

2) Thanks to everyone who has checked in after reading the news the last couple days. So far, the neighborhood protesters are keeping their shenanigans confined to a main street bordering our neighborhood; I think they get to block the most traffic there and therefore annoy the most people, which makes them happy. This is fine with me as it it means our immediate street (and home and family) are not damaged and not threatened for the moment. If everyone would just pray that it continues to rain all weekend, I think we'll be in the clear (people have a surprising lack of resolve for their cause when it means standing out in the cold rain). Also, it would be helpful if all the out-of-towners who were planning to come from around the country to stage protests this weekend would stay home, but I don't think putting that on this blog is going to get the message to them. Also, if you have a way to blot this week in St. Louis from the memory of any potential house buyers in a couple years, please let me know.

3) This new baby girl is at least as active, if not more active than her predecessors. I'm pretty sure her wombly gymnastics are starting to give me vertigo, it's so constant. We're all assuming she's going to stay put for a couple months at least, but some days I'm convinced she is testing the walls to see what would be required to bust out early.

So how about another catch-up post?

A couple weeks ago Grandma came with us to the apple picking farm. There's a huge u-pick farm just over the river in Illinois, but we like to drive 2 miles past the huge u-pick farm to a smaller u-pick farm because they make apple cider slushies and apple cider donuts, and it's not very busy and the farmers are really nice and there are tons of apples.

Michael was waiting for the kids to stop poking the rabbits and come jump on the trailer so we could ride out to the apples. I'm pretty sure the look on his face is pertaining to my camera addiction, not to anything about the apple picking adventure. He likes apple picking adventures, especially when they end with apple cider donuts.

When I say there were tons of apples, I am not exaggerating. There were still lots on the low branches so the little ones could pick without assistance.

This picture is purely for the glory of the socks-and-sandals. It is unclear whether he is wearing two different socks, or it is actually a matching pair and one has slid down a bit.

Gussie could reach apples on every tree, but he kept insisting on trying for the ones higher up.

So Grandma gave him a boost!

The apples were so abundant that after four minutes of following around the little kids while they picked the low branches, I looked over and Mary and Catherine already had their bags full and were just pottering around waiting for the tractor to come back for us. So we all plucked a last apple and had a snack while we waited.

Forty pounds of apples, just like that.

After our tractor ride back to the barn (during which a bee kept insisting on landing on the apple Gussie was still eating - ask him and he'll tell you all about it), we paid for our apples and picked up some slushies and donuts to go with our lunch. Then it was play time - the farm has a kids' play area that includes this pedal tractor, except Gussie wasn't strong enough to pedal it so Michael gave him a hand (and Catherine is in the background, scraping corn kernels off a cob).

It also has these fun bouncy horse swings.

And a pretend farm stand that Catherine spent most of her time re-organizing each time a group of school kids on a field trip came through and messed it up. It makes my head reel if I try to contemplate why she cannot put that type of organizational effort into her room.

And then we packed up our apples and our donuts and a bale of straw (for my strawberry patch) and headed home.

There is still straw in the back of my van.

We are still snacking on the apples we picked.

The donuts are long gone.