It was such a beautiful day ... the air was cool and crisp, and the sky was cloudy, but didn't rain.
One of Henry's favorite books at the moment is, "Ten Apples Up On Top!" so we stopped along the way to see how many apples we could stack, a la Theo. LeSieg (Dr. Seuss).
Without super glue and dowels, or other engineering devices, we determined two was as high as we could go.
We stopped to enjoy a snack and began to ponder all of the things we'd do with these wonderfully fresh apples. The kids told me how excited they were to make carmel apples, but I told them that they really couldn't have carmel apples this year (and shouldn't even be eating an apple unless it was cut in to slices) because of their newly installed braces.
While Henry rejoiced that he could still eat carmel apples but his siblings couldn't (which somehow made his excitement all the sweeter), Elizabeth very loudly explained to me that she had talked to her orthodontist and he had told her that YES, SHE COULD EAT CARMEL APPLES.
She was so convincing and I'd almost believed her, but with Charlie as my witness, in that exact moment - the only other person who was standing in our area of the orchard picking apples interrupted our daughter's pitch and said, "Young Lady, I AM AN ORTHODONTIST and I will tell you right now that you most certainly CANNOT have carmel apples with your braces. You will rip your arch wire right out!"
Oh, to see the look on our faces ... it was a funny, funny moment. If I hadn't been in such shock at the fortuitous nature of his presence, I would have snapped off a picture. I also wish that I'd taken a picture of the good doctor waving a finger at Elizabeth as he stepped in to his vehicle a short while later. His personalized license plate read, "N2 TEETH."
With my camera in hand, I was taking a ton of pictures, while thinking how much I love spending time outside with everyone. I was also thinking that I really need to take a photography class, or read the manual that came with my camera so I can better understand how to use it.
At a minimum, I should get in to the habit of checking the camera lens before I snap off pictures, to ensure that there isn't a glob of who knows what smeared on the end. (Sorry Carolyn!)
Each of the children had their own bag, so at the end of our outing, we had four pecks of apples.
Four pecks of apples equals approximately eight gallons, or one bushel. In our case it was probably 10 gallons of apples because the bags were packed so high.
With so many apples on hand, and carmel apples ruled out for three of our four children, we made Apple Crisps for several of our neighbors, including a few who recently moved in.
Because that's another one of our Fall Rituals.
Because that's another one of our Fall Rituals.
