It is that time of year again and I couldn’t wait for fall to arrive. This year we took a trip to Jollay Orchards to go apple picking as family for the first time and the kids absolutely loved it! What a beautiful day it was! We splurged for the admission into the petting zoo and rides for a fun family day together. We also picked a ton of apples this year and I will be creating a lot of apple dishes in our kitchen to use up the apples we have on hand! The kids enjoyed every minute of this activity and we all enjoyed our cider and donuts treat at the end of the day.
Some ideas of fun were better than others. Apple picking, hay rides, and corn mazes…a blast. Haunted house… super bad idea. Poor kids- that picture speaks a thousand words!
We also can’t wait to do a little pumpkin picking next month. I have to say, personally, the pumpkin picking is my favorite kind of picking. You know why? No obligation to do kitchen duty with a pumpkin and I get to just enjoy the pumpkin out on my front step and time spent with my husband & kids. A lot of the other picking translates into lots of work for me!
With apples though, there is a no apples go to waste policy in our house! While I have been creating those apple dishes in the kitchen, I throw all of the cores, peel, and leftover apple bits into a pot. With a generous sprinkle of cinnamon and filled to the top with water, I simmer these leftovers on the stove. This creates a delicious apple pie smell throughout the house with items that would go in the trash.
What fall activity do you look forward to with your family? Please share!
Looks like a greta time! I have been debating going there and wondering if the hour drive would be worth it with the family. Are you not able to pick pumpkins yet?
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Amy Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 6:50 am
At that point the pumpkins weren’t out. I will be honest and say that the apple picking is free, but all of the frills/rides/petting zoo/corn maze cost $6 per person (including adults). It ended up being a more expensive trip than I had anticipated, BUT the family did have a great time and we had the most of it. It would be hard to tell your children that you are just apple picking because the playground and petting zoo are right next to the ticket booth. If you are just wanting to pick pumpkins, Amazing Acres is my favorite place because there is no charge for the petting zoo and playing in the corn troughs- http://momadvice.com/blog/2008/10/a-family-day-at-the-pumpkin-patch/. We had a blast and spent very little money there! I hope that helps!
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Apple picking is so much fun – Ahhh! Fall – my favorite time of the year – and your day certainly looks perfect – even a corn maze!
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I love the colors of Fall and decorate my home with oranges and reds! I pull out the throws and even paint rooms! Love the idea of putting all the bits and pieces in a pot to make the house smell great! I bet you could even put it all in a small crock pot and let it “smell like fall” all day. Will steal that one please.
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OK question- tips for taking photos of food please? Everytime I take a photo of food it comes out dark, or blurry or just plain bad!! But yours come out beautiful so how do you do it? Thanks for the tips……
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Amy Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 12:51 pm
LynnMarie- What kind of camera do you have? It is a point-and-shoot or a SLR?
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LynnMarie Reply:
September 22nd, 2010 at 9:02 am
Cannon Sure Shot with 3mega pix. What kind do you have?
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Amy Reply:
September 22nd, 2010 at 9:47 am
LynnMarie- I have the Canon Rebel T1i and it is an SLR which has made a world of difference for me for the food photography. With the point and shoot, the only thing I can advise is trying to find natural light and turning your flash off on your camera, if you can. A tripod might be a good investment too to help with the blurring of your images. I am the laziest food photographer- I don’t do anything special really so I am a poor example of how to do food photography, but I think those things might help a bit!
Our farm market stand has an annual October display that is a wooden “haunted house” young kids can just climb in and out the windows and tunnels of, and get their pictures taken with the fake spiders and black cats. You might try looking for something like that — much less scary for little ones than a real haunted house!
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Amy Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 2:39 pm
I knew this was a bad idea-they insisted, Ethan and I turned around, and hubby thought it would be okay to press on with Emily. Poor thing
She is scarred for life after that- ha! I don’t think my kids would like anything haunted, really scary or non-scary. The hay ride is as scary as it should get for this family 
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Just look at that! What fun ya’ll had! We are so blessed to live in the apple orchard here on the farm! We have about 10 acres of apples and grow 16 varieties. We just got finished with peaches (there are 40 acres of those-22 varieties). The twins love to ride around on the gator or golf cart and go pick apples with us or Pawpaw! We are going to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Hayden (AL) next month with our church group. We have some friends that own it. The boys can’t wait! I love this time of year! Blessings and Hugs to you sweet friend!
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Amy Reply:
September 21st, 2010 at 6:44 pm
Wow, I think I need to tour your farm, Marva! I can’t imagine having all of that bounty right at my fingertips. I hope you guys enjoy your time at The Great Pumpkin Patch this year- that sounds like a blast! Love you, sweet friend!! xo
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I am a grown man and still do not care for haunted houses. I do like to pick apples with my kids though. I am not a cook so, we get to enjoy them raw but, what you are doing sounds nice, too.
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We took the kids apple picking a few weeks ago, and they loved it! We go at least once a year and every year gets better and better! I’m so glad your family got to enjoy apple picking this year, too! Lovely pics. :0)
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It seems the kids were not enjoying the haunted house. I love your idea about the green apples. Apple pie is my favorite.
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Awesome pictures! Thank you for posting them!! I love this time of year…but am not looking forward to the Winter!
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