Apple Pickin'

We've been wanting to go apple picking for several weeks now, so yesterday, we jumped in the car and drove just across the border to Virginia. We enjoyed seeing the beginnings of fall splashed here and there along the way.
Once on site, we each got a bucket, and made our way to the different trees that still held fruit.

We were cautious at first, not allowing the kiddos to climb in the trees . . .

And then we figured, why not?

We all got to climb a little, weather on latter or tree limb . . .

Benjamin was giving out sweet flowers he found along the way, very sweet.

Some of our spoils . . . we picked about a bushel, and got two more. Hope they last a few months! We enjoyed the experience, and look forward to finding more harvest soon.

What a "hoppy" day :)

On a very misty morning, earlier this week, a very special package arrived at our house. Inside, were numberless hops, bounds, flips, laughs, and moments waiting to be unleashed. In less than two hours, the parents had said package open, set up, and ready to greet unknowing young eyes as they awoke from naps, and arrived home from daily activities. The wait, mist, rain, and time were all totally worth it for the looks on their faces, perfect!

Fall family photos.

I really wanted a nice family photo, and with fall clothes, and a little bit of time on our hands we figured, why not? These were all done using a handy wooden post that happened to be located at the end of the bridge, positioned exactly in the middle. Jeff does amazingly well with the timer function. You just never know for sure how many pictures are going to be taken during each cycle. These are some of my favorites :)

Stormy beach fun.

Last weekend, we headed out to the beach for Jeff's work retreat, and were looking forward to playing in the surf and the sun. As the weather had it, we didn't end up with a lot of sun, but we did enjoy our time there. While Jeff was in meetings, the kiddos and I headed over to the aquarium, to take in the wildlife there. The rain was coming down pretty hard, so we took our time getting back to the hotel to check in, and the kids were ecstatic: we had the "kid suite." That meant that although we were in one room, there was a queen size bed, and a divider that held bunk beds and kids entertainment unit. We all thought it was pretty cool.

We decided to try out a local restaurant: Boodles. I won't mention it's sanitation score, because I don't want to, but we were impressed with their food. Granted, we were really hungry at the time we were eating! I had a turkey burger with blue-cheese, sweet potato fries, and cinnamon, sugar, and butter dipping sauce (for the fries). Jeff's burger was pretty conventional, but huge in it's proportions! The children's portions were pretty large as well, and they got ice cream to go. Really, it had a nice mom-and-pop kind of feel to it.

We really wanted to spend time in the water, but quite frankly, it was a little bit scary, frothy and angry. So, we settled for playing in the hotel pool, and being in the sand and surf very close to the shore.

Usually, we try to take nice family pictures on the beach every fall, but the pelting rain wasn't working in our favor, so we decided to try a few inside near the fireplace. By this time, Lily had developed a fever, and wasn't feeling very well. We did have fun wondering how many pictures the timer was going to take.

After a delicious dinner, the kiddos were all feeling pretty poorly, so we decided we'd take it easy in the morning getting back. We had a nice stroll on the beach, beautiful sunshine, and lovely atmosphere, but the batteries were dead in the camera. I know, this sounds like I'm being negative, but I'm totally not, promise. :) We enjoyed being together as a family, and having a different experience at the beach.

I am just a little excited....

If you haven't heard the news , Rio won!