In The Fall

Well, brace yourself for a long post of pics. In the fall, we went apple picking in Julian. We love it there because it's old school. It's quiet. Dr. Drew loves the fresh apple pies. The kids just love getting away. I'm always along for the ride and whatever else that comes with it.

the guy who owns Raven Hill Orchard in Julian was -no joke- a dead ringer for Johnny Depp
not by way of looks, but by style ... oh, my!
wish I had taken a picture of him- he even had b.o. to match his unkempt look

Cool shades you two.

Can I eat it?

father-daughter moment

Doesn't this house scream,
"Come take your trendy family photo here"

hard at work-
finding only the apples with no bruises or worms!

satisfaction

oh so kissable

hey, look at me.
I made it into a photo!

yum!
This is the only reason why I came on this outing.

E is examining the goods
while K teaches baby Drew to NOT eat the apples in the bag . . . yet!

Ok, I'll find 'em here on the ground then.
Can I eat these now?

Oh look! Now my better side made it into a photo.

To finish off the day we went to the Julian Mining Co.
where we got a demonstration on making apple cider.

We later drank what dripped into the silver bowl.

I am still wondering how this is my child.
I've never been an animal lover.

E is like the dog whisperer,
but for ANY animal.

Yes my friends, she is holding and feeding goats.
Aren't they supposed to be aggressive, mean even?

Then we had to feed the friendly horse.

After that, we went on a make-shift hay ride.
I would much rather have been pulled by a horse. The exhaust from the diesel in the tractor was blackening my healthy lungs by the second.

After our tractor ride, the girls went sluice mining for gems.
This is their favorite thing to do. Why we keep paying for them to do so is beyond me.
We have gobs of gems all over this house. What should we do with them?

The first find.

Shoot! I guess I misplaced this pic.
Glad it made it on the post though because it sure is E-dorable!

more mining

another "gem" of a find

This metal ring was designed for an old-school game-
you use a stick to balance the hoop.
My girls only want to do one thing with a hoop though:
swish their hips!

We ended the day with some hay jumping!

E requested this shot . . .

and this one . . .

this series too . . .

Jr.'s version of hay play

Seriously, so blessed!
lol, for those who know of that satire blog