Autumn's Arrival...

Wednesday morning, I took V to a local apple orchard/cider mill for what I thought would be a fun time of picking apples and sampling cider. We had learned about the orchard from one of the moms in my play group. Her son's preschool class was going to be touring the cider mill that morning, and she gave me a time when they might be there. I had the usual issues of getting V and I out of bed, showered, and breakfasted before we could leave for our little trip, so we didn't actually make it in time to meet the other preschoolers. However, we did have a lovely drive on a wooded Indiana back road to the orchard. I could see the arrival of autumn everywhere with the beautiful colors on the trees and hay bales sitting out among harvested fields. When we finally made it to the orchard, the preschool class was on their tour. A gentleman in the store (one of the owners, I'm assuming) was filling up bins with bags of freshly picked apples. There were also pumpkins lining the porch of the store and filling up a large bin inside it. Besides the pumpkins and apples, the store also had jugs of fresh apple cider from the mill, vegetables and honey from the farm, bags of popcorn and peanut brittle, and pottery and other things made by local craftsmen. V loved all the "punkins" on the porch, and proceeded to sit on a few. When we were inside, I let him pick a smaller pumpkin to take home. He wanted to carry it out on his own and had some difficulty, but after getting into the car, he sat with it in his lap the entire way home. I asked the gentleman running the store about picking our own apples, and he told me that since they're switching to an organic operation, they're only going to be using the apples for cider and won't have them available for "market use". I was a little disappointed by this because last year in Ohio, V and I went to a U-pick apple orchard where V had a lovely time finding apples to pick and eat right there in the field. I didn't buy any apples from the apple orchard on Wednesday morning, but I will definitely go back to buy some and some of their apple cider. The trip to and from the orchard is totally worth it. At least, during the fall it is! My play group has planned a trip to a local farm for hayrides and pumpkin picking. We have other plans that evening, but I definitely want to take V there some time before October is over. It's just a great way to enjoy fall and spend time with each other during the season.


Speaking of the season, I had spent some time the last couple of week's trying to figure out what V's going to be for Halloween. While at a store yesterday looking at costumes, I called my husband at home (who was post call and watching our son during his nap) and asked him his thoughts about what I was finding. I told him that I really didn't feel like spending a ton of money on a costume that V will probably only wear once, and most of the costumes at the store were really too big for him or were things I really didn't want him to wear. Then, Hubby had the idea of making a specific costume from things I could find at the store. I was thrilled with the concept, and immediately found a few things I needed from that store and some of the rest at a local craft store. The rest will either come from around the house or will also be bought, depending on what I find. All told, it may end up costing around the same amount as one of the costumes at the store, but I think it'll be much cuter! I won't give any hints here. You'll just have to wait until Halloween!
Happy Autumn, everyone!
Best,
Amanda