We have been trying to do at least one family activity each weekend and this weekend we decided to head to Wellwood for donuts, petting zoo, and maybe even some apples. It feels a tad early for apples, but we somehow managed to miss strawberry and blueberry picking this year, so I guess we’d better get the apple picking in while we can!

We started with donuts, of course. I’m wishing, in hindsight, that I took a few pictures of that, because check out this picture from our first time ever at Wellwood Orchard!

It doesn’t get any cuter than this!

We had some donuts, chatted with a friend we ran into there, then headed for the petting zoo! Always a crowd pleaser.

Hungry baby piggies

So many birds! Look how tall Lex is!

We watched the piglets for awhile. They were adorable! Then momma pig started doing her bathrooming business and we decided it was time to go! Blech!

Eve tried to feed the piglets.

Lex had more luck feeding the sheep. These sheep need a shearing. They looked HOT!

We sure know how to take a family photo! LOL!

Those eyes!! She wasn’t really rolling them at me (not exactly), but she was mad at me for not letting her climb the trees. She said, “what’s the point of being here if I can’t climb the trees?!”

Can I just have my sweet little girl back, please?! (Of course, she IS in a tree in this picture!)

There’s her smile! Luckily she doesn’t stay angry for long. Who can be mad when they’re sitting next to that handsome fellow?!

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We swung back by the store on the way out and bought fudge and other treats. Then home again. Over all a very nice day and a very nice memory from the past! Now… off to eat some apples!

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Every year we hear about the Great Vermont Corn Maze, but this is the first time we’ve gone.  We have corn maze experience, of course, (2014, 2013, 2012, probably other years, and 2008) but nothing like this!  They say the average person take about two hours to get through.  We spent two hours and fifteen minutes inside, with moods ranging from excitement to frustration to annoyance to excitement to boredom to excitement again. We were in there for awhile!

Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe was the theme this year.

A water bottle man selling reusable water bottles.

We found a bridge and hoped it would help to get a higher view. It didn’t.

What a corny family!

There were hole punch stations along the way and the kids had cards to collect punches. It relates to an online activity, i think, but they also served as landmarks in the corn madness.

Me and my girl

At the end of the maze there is a Bell of Success. We discovered that in the maze there is also a Bell of Frustration to mislead you. It worked!

“Look, a boat!”

Me and my boy

Eve wanted in on the selfie action!

Me and Alan. He was there too! :)

There really was a boat. We were heading that way until a helpful maze worker suggested (hinted) that the exit was not that way.

Another Bell of Frustration!

Success!!!

We made it!!

It’s beautiful up there!

Posters of past years. I took a better picture but my phone didn’t save it. Oh well.

They stop admitting people at 2pm and start helping people at 4pm.  We got there just before two so by the end we got a few tiny hints from the staff along the way to get out.  Hints like which way to turn at the next junction, which were barely helpful.  I was joking that we would need to get airlifted out, but instead we ended part of a large group all trying to get out and sharing info about hints we got or paths we tried.  Eventually we all made it out, no airlifting required!

Then we played in the kid village, visited the petting zoo, played gopher in the big gopher tunnels, and jumped from one giant hay bale to the next in the hay barn.  Really the kids did all that while Alana and I made dinner plans and turned off our brains for a few minutes.  :-)

Dinnertime snuggles

Car snuggles.

Overall a fun way to spend a lovely fall day!

One of my favorite fall things to do! Saturday was Customer Apprecition Day at Wellwood Orchard and my Facebook feed was full of pictures of friends picking apples. I wanted nothing to do with the crowds that day, so instead we went today. Mema was here today too, so we took her along.  Her first time at Wellwood!  It was much calmer, though really hot!! The website said they stopped making donuts at 11am, so we made that our first stop. Once we were sugar-fueled, we went to check out the animals.

Feeding the goats

An albino peacock?

Don’t stand directly under the birds!

Piglets! Mama pig was looking very hot and uncomfortable. Not an attractive look for anyone, especially a giant pig!

Baby bunnies. It was so hot they were all panting in unison.

Eve caught herself a bunny! I’m glad it wasn’t a “catch and keep” situation. :-)

We met some friends in the animal pen and hung out for a bit. The kids were happy to run around with friends for awhile. Then we refueled again with another round of donuts (this post brought to you by fresh made sugar covered donuts!) and then hitched a ride in the wagon up to the orchard.

We met a friend there who volunteered to take group photo.  (I should probably crop this picture better, but my lousy blog posting system doesn’t make that convenient, so… you get what you get!)

Oh yeah, we went apple picking too.

I called this one the toddler tree. Tons of apples at a very accessible height.

Not that my monkeys needed help. I let her climb one, but after hearing the apples tumble down I realized that wasn’t the best idea.

Pears! Adorable, but not really ready yet.

Hot and tires. Just a few more apples.

We had plans to go out for lunch after this, but everyone was hot and sweaty and “fun family time” came to a grinding halt. Instead we headed home to a cool, dark house where everyone could have a little space to calm down and regroup.

Now I have two giant bags of apples on my counter. In the old days the kids and I would bake pie or make applesauce together, but tomorrow they go back to school and I’ll be home making pies and applesauce on my own. It will be different, but good in it’s own way.

If you want to get lost in adorable pictures, type “apple picking” into the little search bar near the top right of this page. Lots of pictures from years past. Apple picking is an annual fall treat for us. :)

We went to the Keene Pumpkin Festival today. I’ve wanted to go for years, but it hasn’t worked out until now. The weather was perfect, the day was somewhat free, and we had Rosy in town! Every year they try to beat their own Guiness World Record for most jack-o-lanterns in one place. You’re supposed to bring a jack-o-lantern or carve one there, but we skipped that step. Too busy this week for pumpkin carving.

Lex had a birthday party to attend this afternoon, so we had limited time at the Pumpkin Festival, but we had fun walking around, exploring, eating junky fair food, watching the costume parade (we did not dress up), and riding the ferris wheel. Good times!

There were a lot of pumpkins to look at!

We watched the costume parade. Check out this guy playing the trombone with a pumpkin on his head!

Lunch on the curb. Pizza, popcorn, and french fries count as a healthy lunch, right?

Wall ‘o pumpkins! We noticed later that these pumpkins have rows of Christmas lights running behind them, with one light in each pumpkin, instead of the little candles like the other pumpkins all have. I guess it would be tough to climb up there an light all those jack-o-lanterns!

Eating ice cream and drooling over candy. Gives me a bellyache just thinking about it! :)

Pumpkins, pumpkins, everywhere!

I love the ears on this jack-o-lantern!

This one has glow sticks for hair! Cool idea.

Look how happy Lex looks. He loves it when Eve hugs him.

We waited for an hour to ride the Ferris Wheel and finally it was our turn!

A view from up high (though not the highest).

Eve and Rosy rode the car in front of me and Lex. Alan waited patiently on the ground.

It was a long drive there and a long, tired drive home.

We wanted to stay longer and check out the pumpkin bowling, but after the ridiculous Ferris Wheel line (patience is not my speciality!) we were out of time and had to head home to get Lex to his birthday party. I’m glad we did too, because the birthday party was a ton of fun! Lex wanted me to stay (twist my arm!) so I hung out while the kids played games, bobbed for apples, had cupcakes, opened presents, and played Quidditch!

(These pics are from my phone. I swear neither camera did very well today. :/)

This kids rode on “broomsticks” and had to throw a big ball through the hoops. One kid was the snitch and they had a ball tucked into the toe of a yellow sock, then tucked into the waist of their pants. The snitch ran around while two seekers (one from each team) tried to get the sock, meanwhile the rest of the kids tried to get the big ball into the hoops for points. It was a lot of fun, especially to watch!

Another big day tomorrow with the CHaD run/hike and a post-run party. Feeling popular this weekend. We’ll have to rectify that (and get caught up on all my school work!) next weekend. :)

Friday was a beautiful day! We had a few friends come over after school and we all had snack then spent the afternoon building a leaf man, running around, riding bikes, swinging, playing hide-and-seek, and having a generally wonderful fall day.

Meet our new friend, Pumpkin Head.

We had a very silly afternoon.

We need more leaves! The girls continued stuffing long after the boys had moved on.

Then they spent some time pretending to walk past the house to see how it looked. They varied their walking styles and speeds, in case that made a difference in the appearance of the leaf man. :)

These beautiful fall days are limited, so we’re trying to enjoy them all!

** this was all pre-bee sting drama **

I dragged the kids out for a hike Sunday. Outdoorsy, we are not! It was a beautiful weekend though, and when I mentioned a hike on Saturday they were all for going Sunday. We were busy Saturday anyway. When Sunday rolled around they wanted no part of it. However, as I suspected, once we got out there they loved it! Mostly. The hill proved to be quite steep, so there were a few times when they swore they just. could. not. go. on. But we persevered and were rewarded with breathtaking views of the fall foliage. We hiked up the back side of a skiway, so for the return trip we just went down the slopes, a trip which would have been much faster on skis! :)

Check out this cool spiney tree.

Lex was doing good for awhile!

Alan convinced Eve to go barefoot!  She loved the mud squishing in her toes. :)

This hike was part of the Appalachian Trail.  We came across a cool lodge and stopped for a visit.  For some reason this one had three fireplaces!  We checked it out, had a snack, then continued on.

The incline got steeper…

… and the kids got tired-er.

Lex giving me a good grumpy face. :)

The view from the top was amazing!!

Straight down!

We went down the front of mountain, straight down the ski slope!

Check out this cool rock we came across.  We spent some time climbing on and around it.  There’s another big one right next to it, behind those two trees, and a fallen down tree between the two which made for a great climbing bridge.  Good times!

Then home again, home again, went the tired hikers.  A good day and a good time was had by all… until they went outside to play that evening…