Apple picking

We went apple picking 2 weeks ago for the last time.  The golden delicious were just that - delicious and sweet, but ridiculously small.  The Jona Reds that were also available for picking were terrible.  I picked one off the tree, took one bite and spit it out.  They were miniature, the skin was tough, the apple had no taste and it had a funky texture.  We picked 2 bags of the golden delicous and have been munching on them ever since.   

Climbing the ladder is as much fun as picking the apples.

Tractor ride to the orchards.

Can't go apple picking without having a few sugar-cinnamon coated hot apple fritters and cider.

We can't go anywhere that there is a dog without Helaina gravitating toward it and and asking the owner "May I pet your dog please?  Is it friendly?"  If the answer is yes, more questions follow, "Is it a boy or girl?  How old is your dog?  What's her name?  Oh, she's so cute!  Our dog is in Heaven but we have another cat now.", and on and on.  A day doesn't go by that Helaina asks when we are getting another dog.  Tonight she said she wanted a dalmation, then a spaniel that she will name Heidi, followed by a pug.   

Last ride of the year on the Apple Ponies.  This one was called Missy.  Missy has a pretty face.

Of all the times we've been to Beak and Skiff I never noticed this tree with the face carved into it.  Pretty cool but at first Helaina didn't want to get near it.  It spooked her, for some reason.

Asleep for the drive home but still clutching her balloon that she got from a witch at the apple orchard.

A Bouncy Halloween Party

A few weekends ago we went to my niece's annual Halloween party.  This year she outdid herself by renting a bounce house.  There were a few bumped heads here and there, but it was a giant success with bumps and bruises not getting in the way of totally bouncy fun.

Totally decked out for the party in her favorite Halloween attire, including the curled hair "just like Anna's."

In the bounce house where Helaina spent most of her time.

Painting her pumpkin, mostly pink, of course - a very natural color for a pumpkin.  Notice the completely sweated hair with flushed red cheeks from bouncing non-stop for hours.

Ok, there's just too much cuteness between these 3 little girls. So much cuteness that it's almost too hard to handle.

Ahhh, those chubby little cheeks.  Did I say "little" cheeks??!!

What, no candy?

I had the mail in my hands yesterday while I waited at the end of the driveway for Helaina's school bus.  She got off the bus, saw the oversized envelope in my hands and asked "What's that?"  I showed her the envelope and she saw her name on it.  "Who's it from?"  I told her Aunt Terry and Uncle Mike.  A squeal came from her lips.  She called her Daddy to ask if she could open the package after lunch or if he wanted her to wait until he got home from work.  "He doesn't care."  She started ripping open the envelope while swallowing her last mouthful of soup.

Here's how the conversation went as she was opening her card and 2 gifts.
Helaina:  Ahhh, I like this card.  Now hand me a present. Oohh, Halloween pencils.
Me:  Those are nice.  You can sharpen them and use them to do your homework packets.
Helaina:  Oohh, a stripe shirt.  Can I wear it to school?
Me:  Yes you can.  It will look nice with your purple leggings.
Helaina (while holding and shaking the crinkled tissue paper):  What, NO candy?????
Oh, the honesty of children!  I reassured Helaina that she'd be getting plenty of candy this weekend.  Thank you Aunt Terry and Uncle Mike, even though there was no candy!

Last Friday and Saturday the Disney Store had a Halloween party.  If you wear your favorite Disney character costume you get to play games, parade through the store, watch a movie clip and get some gifts.  Helaina decided to go as Cinderella.  This dress is a play dress she's had for a long time and is not what she will be on Halloween, but she looks absolutely amazing with her blue eye shadow and red lipstick.

Yah, she looks 5 in this picture - uh huh.

She plopped down in a sea of stuffed animals and was quite comfy.

When dressed as Cinderella you simply must ride your white horsie - round the carousel.  As far as Helaina's choice for Halloween this year?  Well, let's just say if you guessed a Disney princess, you'd be on the right track!  Last year she was Snow White.  Any bets on what princess she selected this year?

More Fall Festivities

Hafner's garden center has fun Fall activities each weekend in October.  When their schedule says that Coco the Clown will be there, Helaina will be there also.  Coco is great.  The kids love her and she's got a good sense of humor.  Helaina requested a ghost this time and was pleased with her Casper.

Helaina is particularly interested in mazes this year.  She made her way through this hay bale maze on her own.  Every once in a while she'd stand on her tip-toes and check to see that Jim and I were still there - like where would we go?  It was funny because we could barely see the top of her head but we could clearly see her balloon ghost that she was holding up rather high.

She surprised me with her facepainting choice.  Thought she'd pick a pumpkin or ghost but she opted for a glittered cat nose with whiskers.

Ride 'em, cowgirl.  She just can't get enough horsie rides.

Helaina got behind this witch cut-out and started laughing like a witch and "cackling".  People were walking by her and laughing.

A hay bale racetrack?  There was a line of kids waiting to ride trikes through the hay bales and, as usual, she impatiently waited her turn.

We de-gutted a pumpkin recently and Helaina was actually excited to pull out the strings and seeds.

Helaina drew the face and I did the carving.

Weeks are just flying by...

The Fall weekends are whizzing by us faster than we can keep up.  Seems like every Saturday and Sunday we've had something fun and Fall-like to do.  It's keeping Helaina happy and busy but putting Jim and I way behind on outdoor projects we'd like to wrap up.  We try to squeeze some of our stuff in between Helaina's busy schedule!  Two weekends ago Carousel Mall was celebrating it's 21st anniversary so we headed there on Saturday morning to take advantage of some events.

There were free carousel rides for the kiddos.  Helaina took advantage of that - twice.

Free cupcakes.  Or in Helaina's case, free frosting and sprinkles.  She ditched the cupcake after getting her sugar high off the frosting.  Check out those nails.  She's into the multicolored designs now.   I'm getting good at painting stripes, polka dots and letters on those cute little nails.

Helaina saw 2 clowns walk by the cupcake table and watched them like a hawk.  Free face painting - in Helaina's case, arm painting.

And free balloon animals, which in Helaina's case turned out to be a flower.  This very nice clown, who had a very long line of kids waiting, saw me trying to take a picture and she stopped for a moment and posed with Helaina.  Very nice of her.

Sunday found us at the local garden center to enjoy more Fall festivities ... clowns, balloons, face painting and pony rides.  It never ends, much to Helaina's delight.

So that's a cow train

We had never been to Critz Farm before and decided to check it out on Columbus Day.  Thought we'd be there a couple hours tops and ended up staying twice as long.  The place is huge with lots of things to do and room for Helaina to run free and wild.  I was most interested in the cow train - couldn't imagine what it was.  Then when I saw it I couldn't stop laughing.  Helaina waited impatiently in line then sprinted for the first cow when it was her turn.  Clever idea, that cow train.

The tractor pulled the train around a big open lot.  Helaina wanted to immediately ride again, of course.

She rode in Bessie.

Feeding the alpaca it's kibble.

There was a giant mountain that had several different slides going down each side of it.

Hay bales to climb on and jump from.  Love this pic of our happy gal in mid-air.

We rode the tractor to the pumpkin patch and picked out a few.

There was a huge enclosed play area that had several play structures that Helaina could have spent the entire day on.  Jim and I pulled a few lawn chairs under a shady tree and relaxed while Helaina ran, climbed and jumped until sweat was dripping down her face.  Still obsessed with monkey bars and rings and her calloused palms prove it.  She's got amazing upper body strength. 

Hanging from something ... an absolute favorite thing to do.

The white bin held apples that the kids could toss into the green bin which sent the apples down a conveyor belt to be made into cider.  You could watch them get washed then go the the pressing machine that pulverized the heck out of them.  I think Helaina would have stood there all day tossing apples into the washing bin.

The trip was a success.  We ended up having lunch there because there was so much to do.  They have a corn maze and a small kid-friendly haunted house that Helaina went through at least 6 times.  We had some yummy teeny tiney apple cider donuts.  Jim and I had a hard cider tasting.  I wanted to pick apples too but after nearly 4 hours we were too beat.  Critz Farm gets 6 thumbs up from us all.

Columbus Day Weekend - Sunday

With temperatures in the 80's on Columbus Day weekend, attending the Apple Festival seemed like a summer event instead of a Fall event.  We go to the festival every year and have encountered all sorts of weather (rain, cold, knee-deep mud, occasional pleasentness), but never have we gone when we wore shorts and were sweating.  Helaina suffered being dragged through the craft tents where I start my holiday shopping - her reward being an apple pony ride, numerous overpriced kiddie rides and ice cream.

Helaina climbed in and on everything she could at the festival.  She's into climbing lately.  I think a small rock climbing wall will be next Spring's additon to her playground.

She couldn't wait to climb up into this enormous tractor.

One of her favorite activities, the apple ponies.  I think this was Herschey, or was it Brownie?

Mini-hymalaya type ride.  She went on this twice and squealed with delight both times.  It whipped around the corners so fast that her braids were flying in the air.

Arms up (always) on the caterpillar roller coaster.

The leaves are late turning colors this year, "they" say.  Still pretty though.