New Traditions - Apple Picking

I have always wanted to go apple picking and a few weeks ago we decided this would be the year to try it out. We were planning to go in a couple weeks, but some plans fell through this weekend and we ended up with a free morning. The weather was cool enough to feel like fall, but still warm enough that we didn't need coats. After a quick search online for pick your own apple orchards we had it narrowed down to 3 farms that all had great reviews. We opted for the one closest to home as this would be our first apple picking experience and we really didn't want to spend over an hour driving somewhere, especially when we had limited time before little one's naptime. We went to Iron's Fruit Farm which is just about 40 minutes away from home.
Little La was snoozing away when we pulled into the parking lot. Todd loaded her up into the baby carrier in hopes that she would stay asleep just a little longer. As soon as we approached their little shop, she heard the kids running around and was wide awake and checking out the scenery. Once we figured out where to go to pick the apples, we hopped on the hayride out to the orchard. The weather was just perfect, I would have liked a little more sunshine, but Todd said he wouldn't have changed a thing.

After seeing so many cute photos on Pinterest of families apple picking and babies in the orchard, I had it set in my mind that I wanted some cute photos of our little girl apple picking. Of course, she is working on her 3rd tooth right now, her first one on the top, so all she wanted to do was chew on an apple to ease some of her discomfort. Despite her teething, she had a great time. She loved picking up the apples and chewing on them. She was not a fan of trying to pick one off the tree. We held her up several times thinking she'd reach out to grab one, but she didn't love touching the branches and leaves.

She LOVED the hay ride back. She stood there the whole time just giggling away and waving her arms and bouncing up and down. She would wave at everyone in the trailer, then wave at all the trees we were passing and start cracking up watching the wheels on the tractor. When we arrived back by the shop we passed by some of their animals. La thought the emu and pony were so funny. We paid for our apples and picked up some fresh apple cider, apple butter and a pastry to snack on. We sat out at a picnic table and enjoyed our little treat. They had an old tractor out that you could climb up and sit on. I climbed up and Todd passed La up to me. She loved standing up there, waving to everything and holding the big steering wheel.

All in all, we had a great day. As we were leaving the farm we decided this is something we should do every year. I love making homemade applesauce so I'll be pretty busy this week peeling, cutting, cooking and mashing apples. I think this could be a fun tradition every year. Now that we have all these apples, I think I'll try baking my first ever pie this fall.

On Sunday, we went to a birthday party for the neighbor's little boy. They had the party at the park just up the street. The weather was just beautiful. While we were there we went over to the playground hoping to find some swings, but they didn't have any. Instead we opted to try out the slides. La had so much fun sliding with us.

Such a fun weekend of firsts for our little girl. We're looking forward to many more fun firsts with her. It is so fun starting new family traditions. I'm hoping to go apple picking every year, it will be so fun to watch her grow and change from year to year as she becomes more interested in picking the apples.