I realize today is the last day of August and not quite yet fall, but the kids had the day off (after a tiring three days of school!) and we took a field trip to the apple orchard. It was the best part of our otherwise rocky, cranky day.

I was all excited to go but when I called to make sure they were open I found out they weren’t doing wagon rides yet or making the donuts everyone loves so much. That all starts tomorrow. So we decided not to go. The kids were playing nicely so I sat down on the couch to do a few minutes of work. You can guess where that went. FIGHTING! Yelling, pushing, shoving… all over that ONE Hot Wheels they both absolutely NEEDED. I yelled, they yelled, life was NOT good. I tried to get them to the playground but they fought that too. I went outside for a breath of fresh air. Cleaned up all their outdoor toys that I had asked them a hundred times to clean up. I am in such a PURGING mood lately, but that is for another post.

I came back in, we had snack, and then I decided we were going to the apple orchard. I explained how nice and calm it would be today and how tomorrow would be crowded and loud and packed. All true. They decided to cooperate (snack ALWAYS helps!) and we had a lovely mid-day at the orchard.

First things first, petting the animals.

Hello bunnies, are you in there?!

The goats like to be fed. They are eager eaters!

Lex loved all the bunny houses. They have a whole bunny village there.

The peacocks are so beautiful and a little scary. The kids wanted to pet one, but none of the birds were interested in being petted.

This was a bully sheep. She kept trying to push the kids over whenever they got near the food machine. Then she followed Eve for awhile. Here Eve is trying to pet that bunny (finally a bunny that stayed still long enough to be touched!) and the sheep kept getting in her face. I took a quick picture and then rescued her. :)

I like this pig. How long to they live? I wonder if it’s the same pig we see every year. Last year the piglets were feeding and that was cute. This year they were all snuggled into the hay and sound asleep.

The requisite face-through-sign-board photos.

Silly little apple.

This year we decided to pick some plums too. They were abundant. However, they are at their peak and many were squashed on the ground. It was tough for any of us to reach the high ones without slipping on the squishy plumy ground.

Eve liked the plums.

The Cortlands were HUGE and tart.

The apples were abundant!

Lex was a rockin’ apple picker! I think he picked 90% of what we brought home!

Eve got tuckered out. We were there at lunch time. She ended up relaxing in the wagon for awhile.

Lex took a picture for me! He was super proud that he got it before Eve stuck out her tongue. :)

The weather was warm and breezy, not too hot, not too sunny, not too anything. Just right. Then we bought some cider and maple sugar candies and headed to the paint store.

When we got home we managed to only have one or two more arguments before bedtime. I’m hoping tomorrow goes a little smoother. Maybe we’ll bake an apple pie to celebrate September! (or an apple spice cake like at the end of this post!)