Apple Picking On My Birthday!

 

Apple picking has been a tradition since Noah was a toddler and so we snuck in some fall fun on my birthday this past week and went to the orchard! Noah was a good sport and with Jon working wanted to make my day fun and so we decided to go apple picking. It was the sweetest most simplest gift and I of course turned it into a mini photo shoot. I love taking pictures and capturing the moments especially with this kid. He's growing up way too fast and so far he has made the time to come with me on little dates. They say that between the ages of 14-18 life gets busy with kids and I have to say that so far it hasn't gotten that way....yet! Noah doesn't pack his schedule with a lot of extra curricular activities and I don't have in multiple sports. He just started high school so I'm hoping that he will learn to find a balance in case he gets even busier as he grows older. I'm sure he will but hopefully the lessons I've taught him about how important sleep, time, and family are that he will make those a priority. The overcast day made it a perfect day to go. I'm so grateful for these moments and hope that we will continue to go on little outings like this as long as he is living under our roof! 

Apple Picking On The Last Day Of September.

As soon as Noah came home from school we decided to go apple picking at Battleview Orchards. It was a perfect overcast day to go. I had a feeling the orchards were going to be picked over and I was right. Luckily we found a few good apples but the one thing Noah really wanted was a golden apple. Those are his favorite and so we lucked out on finding a couple. We left with a few apples and because I forgot this place is cash only had 13 bucks on me. Luckily these eight mediocre apples were only 4 bucks!! Such a great deal and we had such a fun time without heavy crowds. I'm totally getting used to just having one kid now and it's probably best since Chelsea will be gone next fall. But tradition is tradition and I love apple picking. Even if it's just with one kid. Might as well get used to one on one outings with my only boy. And it actually was super fun! Now for a little apple picking photo op...

Apple Picking At Battleview Orchards!

I don't know if it's because we didn't go picking too much during the pandemic but since autumn started we've been out and about exploring farms and orchards and this week we went apple picking. We've always gone apple picking on my birthday since it's close to the first day of Autumn but since it was my 50th birthday and a very warm day to go to the orchard decided to wait until October 1st to officially begin the fall festivities. 

This year we went to Battleview Orchards which is a favorite. We like venturing out to different orchards and Noah and Lexie had a blast picking their own apples. Noah is getting older and it's so fun to watch him pick his own as opposed to me helping him decide whether they're a bad apple or not! He's becoming more and more independent as an almost 12 year old boy should be and that makes my heart happy. I have been trying to live in the moment without snapping too many pics or taking too many videos but I did do a cute little reel and you can see that on my Instagram and as usual I took a few photos. Just enough for a blog post to remember this day. 

Apple Picking On The First Week Of Fall.

When September rolls around particularly on or around my birthday we go apple picking. It is the best part of the beginning of fall and other holiday traditions. This time we were super lucky to have had a wagon all to ourselves. There was no one else on it and so off to the orchard we went to go pick some apples. I have to admit it was odd having the wagon and orchard all to ourselves. Truly makes you miss people. This pandemic has people changing on all different levels and on our way back from picking we had to stop to pick up 12 people who were picking pumpkins. It was nice seeing other people on the wagon, but they were all distanced from each other which is safe, but it's nice when someone smiles underneath their mask or nods their head. Although it was nice having the wagon and orchard to ourselves the sounds of other children laughing and parents helping their kids pick apples is a sight to see. Something I don't do anymore with my kids since they are too big too carry! It was unusually weird to have the orchard to ourselves but it was nice and we had fun. One good thing is that no one was able to hear me yell at my kid for throwing apples like they are a baseball. Every time Noah would pick a bad apple he'd throw it as if he was Derek Jeter. LOL! Good thing there was no one around for them to hear me yell like a crazy mom! Now for some happy pics!

Apple Picking On The First Day of Fall!

Although I've had a nice break from blogging I have missed it. I have missed writing and sharing our adventures, and thoughts on motherhood, getting older, children growing up, and all about life with anyone who likes to read and look at pictures. Although I have an Instagram where I've captured our life in tiny squares it's nice to put all those tiny squares on a written post and write in prose as to what is happening behind the photo. 

Apple Picking At Battleview Orchards!

It wouldn't be autumn without our yearly visit to the orchard., and we are so lucky to live within reach of some of the finest orchards in Jersey. This year we decided to check out Battleview Orchards which is close to home. We continue to have the most memorable times while picking apples no matter which orchard we go to. This particular orchard was absolutely beautiful, and although it seemed a bit crowded, I have to say that this orchard is big enough for a lot of people, and we didn't mind all the people. We practically had a whole row to ourselves, and we just kept picking and picking.

Apple Picking In Fishkill Farms, NY.

Next to summer fall is a favorite in this family, and since it finally arrived we decided to do a little apple picking. Since it was my birthday I decided where to go on this traditional adventure, and ended up going to a different farm in Fishkill along the Hudson valley. We love venturing out to different orchards, and this one is at the top of our list! Lexie was really excited since she's never been. The times we've gone have been during the day when she's been at school staying until 5pm. This time we went on a Saturday where it was all play and no work. It was so nice to have gone out as a family, and even though we can easily go to our local farmers market and buy apples in a bag, and go home, there's something special and fun about going through an orchard and picking with the family.  It's an adventure for the kids, and boy did they have fun! Noah is getting older and wiser when it comes to picking anything in an orchard. Just as he was when we picked strawberries. He's very particular in what he picks, and wants the apples to be perfect without any damage, or bruising. 

I captured a few moments of this sweet family of mine pickin. I swear I get carried away taking pictures, but I love documenting every event we do because this is something that's so bonding to do as a family, and hope that the kids will start this tradition when they have a family of their own. 

Noah was so cute, and was determined to pick a lot of apples from the tree even while on his tippy toes. Both Jon, and Lexie had to help him out quite a bit. 

And of course Chelsea wanted papa to lift her up too. He obliged, and didn't care if she weighed 90 pounds! This scene brought back some memories of when we first went apple picking. Chelsea was six! 

Lexie loves fruits and vegetables, and she was serious in her apple picking. She had a look of concentration as she was going through the orchard trying to find that perfect apple. 

My crazy girl doing a little apple dance.

As we we were walking towards the farmers market we noticed a chicken coop, and Noah wanted to take a gander at them for a while. 

We then passed this beautiful sunflower garden! There were so many! So many that it was too pretty not to take pictures so I captured a few. 

As usual we chowed down on some grub including eating some apple cider donuts! Eating apple cider donuts, and drinking apple cider is a must when you go apple picking! 

And ice cream! Noah insisted that we get him an ice cream cone. He said, "mom, we should try one just to see how it tastes. Just one mom." I couldn't say no to that, and it was delicious! 

We all also had some time for Noah to play in the haystacks. He had so much fun pretending to be spider man jumping from hay stack to haystack. Or in his case, building to building. 

I couldn't believe how long we were here. It was sundown when we left, but man oh man I can just imagine how this place looks like in the heart of fall. 

We will just have to find out when we come back to go pumpkin picking. As much as we love pumpkin picking at this farm, we just might venture out to Fishkill again to grab ourselves some pumpkins. 

SaveSave

Apple Picking & A Little Video.

Love this time of year when fall traditions begin, and going apple picking is always at the top of our list! We finally got around to going apple picking this past friday. It was kind of hard trying to find a day for all of us to go together, but now that all the kids are in school, and with Jon working, and Lexie having tennis matches almost every day it almost seems impossible for all of us to go as a family. This time around it was just the three of us, and although Jon, and Lexie didn't come you know something...we had a pretty good time. 

I guess I'm going to have to get used to this sooner or later, you know, going with two kids because before we know it Lexie will be off to college, and then it'll just be me, Noah and Chelsea. I'm telling ya, the five year age gap between my four kids can be an advantage, but when it comes to family traditions, it can be a disadvantage. Especially when it comes to seasonal adventures. 

With the season almost over, (because let's face it...fall doesn't last very long), we bit the bullet and drove to one of our favorite orchards near Princeton. Since I snapchatted most of the time I made a little video out of it from the montage app.  It's not as extravagant, or professional as other little films, but I like it. We had so much fun on this day, and as much as I hate to say I'm getting used to not having my two oldest daughters with me on these adventures I am! Hopefully Lexie will come pumpkin picking with us this week as she loves to carve her own!

Here are a few photos, and if you want to see my cheesy little video you can view it on you tube here. 

^^^ eating a golden delicious...Chelsea's favorite! ^^^

I am so glad that I get to go on these adventures with my kids. Even if Jon works I still manage to get myself out there, and do the things that my kids and I love. We all went apple picking last year on my birthday, and that was a load of fun. The kids absolutely love it when their papa comes. Here's hoping that we'll put these apples to good use. The girls love to bake, and so we are hoping to bake apple pie! If anyone has a good recipe please share! 

**You can see another apple picking post here! 

Apple Picking On My Birthday.

Another year, another birthday, and with my birthday came autumn. Where does the time go! There are some days where I'd like to stop this thing called "time" so that I can reflect in that given moment for like "eternity",  but as we grow older so do our kids, and luckily we have traditions that keep us going that makes us look forward to the years ahead. 

Such as apple picking...

As it each birthday passes it seems as if my special day gets simpler, and easier in celebrating (which I don't mind), but I have to say that this particular birthday was one of the best days of my life. After having a pretty rough night in which I won't get into detail this day made up for it in every shape, and form! First of all my husband was off of work so we were able to spend it together with the kids. It was a weekday so we didn't do anything extravagant. We waited for Chelsea to get out of school so we could go apple picking. I felt a little guilty not taking Lexie with us because she was at the school until 8Pm! She has been a busy body ever since school began so this year she missed out on apple picking. I told her  we'd make it up to her by taking her pumpkin picking next month.

We drove out to Terhune Orchards in Princeton, and this was the cutest orchard I've ever been too. It has all the amenities a child can only dream of, and everyone was super friendly! The first thing Noah wanted to do was grab a wagon, but they are only used to hold pumpkins, and even though I could have grabbed one for him to sit on I explained to him that "we aren't here to go pumpkin picking, we're here to go apple picking." His response, "oooooookaaaaay mom...let's go pick them apples."

So off we went to "pick them apples." It's a good thing we didn't wait for the weekend to go because everything looked a little picked over. We did manage to pick a few, and while picking the kids were eating.

^^^No more sitting on papas shoulders  to pick apples. Chelsea has gotten tall enough to pick her own. Those days of having her on papas shoulders picking apples are bittersweet. and over (insert frown emoji face here!) ^^^

Apple picking is such a fun time for the kids. It gives them the opportunity to be carefree, and goof around for a bit which in some cases I did, and didn't mind.

 ^^^ Chelsea pretending to have apple eyes. She picked these two apples, and ate one of them on the way home. ^^^

^^^Noah kept "singing" the words, "get out of my way" (no, it's not a hit) while walking down the orchard kicking apples. We called it "apple soccer." ^^^

After picking them apples we walked around the grounds of this quaint orchard, and every where I turned we saw nothing but color. Color, color, color. Fall is definitely my favorite because of the colors! Oh how I love the colors of fall. Did I mention there was so much color? Including the color of this beautiful calico cat that was roaming around the entire property.

                                                           ^^^ See what I'm saying...color, color, color. ^^^

^^^ One favorite thing the kids like to do in the fall is pumpkin painting, and here a few of the pumpkins a few kids painted while we were there. I'm telling you...pops of color! ^^^

^^^ Noah was adamant in getting a pumpkin. I told him we'll go next month, and pick one out in the field! Stubborn kid. ^^^

   ^^^Huge mums, pumpkins, buckets of apples to name a few which adds color to the beautiful season of fall. ^^^

The kids about died when they saw a mini playground, a swing, and this mini maze made out of hay in which Noah couldn't help to jump around in. 

^^^ love his fly-away hair. ^^^

                              ^^^ and these old tractor trucks in which Noah had a fun time pretending to drive in. ^^^

                                                 ^^^ Noah literally hit "rock" bottom when he slid down this slide! ^^^

                                                                    ^^^ Scarecrow girl, and tractor boy. ^^^

^^^ Every little boy' s dream...truck trikes. ^^^

 ^^^ Let us not forget those apple cider donuts we enjoyed eating while sitting on a picnic table enjoying the view of a tiny pond. ^^^

It truly was a beautiful day...weather, company, and all! Seeing the kids having a good time, laughing, and running around made my day bright with joy. I couldn't have asked for anything more on my birthday, but to spend it in Princeton in an orchard picking delicious apples with a few members of my sweet family. 

I love this time of year!