Apples & Pumpkins

The leaves are turning colors and falling off the trees, the weather is cool and crisp and it is apple and pumpkin season!  Fall is by far my favorite time of the year.  At the end of September, we finally made it to Lebanon's annual Apple Fest.  The kids have been talking about Apple Fest since early Spring and they were all ready for it once we were home and adjusted from our beach vacation.  It was a warm day, warmer than the weather was reported, and that meant loads upon loads of people came out for the day.  It was very congested and especially difficult to navigate with our extra wide, double stroller.  All in all the kids enjoyed getting out and about. 

Breakfast at IHOP before Apple Fest

The best part was getting to sit in the fire truck!

Pink firefighter hat for cancer awareness month

All tuckered out, well, Maggie anyway

This year we decided to make the same drive to Huber's Orchard & Winery that we have made in past years, except for this time we made it a family affair.  We left the house with the best laid plans...unfortunately we weren't prepared for what was to come.  It is 2.5-3 hours to Huber's in Star Light, Indiana from our home.  Everything was great as we drove down 71 through Kentucky.  We did hit some patches of heavy traffic from construction going on, but the kids were happy and we were headed to pick apples and pumpkins.  While sitting in the second stretch of traffic, where we were down to one very congested lane, Maggie started complaining her throat hurt.  I tried to get her to calm down, but she just kept getting more and more upset.  And then she threw up.  We were stuck!  There was no room to pull over, we couldn't get to the exit and she was covered in a pink nightmare.  Maggie had eaten a strawberry Nutrigrain fruit bar, strawberry milk and strawberry fruit snacks.  And now it was all over her and her car seat! :(  Finally we made it to a gas station and after trying to get everything cleaned up, decided to drive to the nearest store.  We found a Target 10 minutes away and bought our cleaning supplies, along with a new outfit for miss car sick.  This is the 3rd time Maggie has gotten sick during a long car ride.  For future trips, we now have a second car seat and I will always pack a change of clothes, cleaning supplies and towels!  After getting all cleaned and settled we were back on the road.  At this point we still had another hour or so to go.  We finally made it to Huber's (after driving to the wrong farm, parking, realizing we were at the wrong place, loading back up and getting back on the road- ugh!) and boy-oh-boy, we weren't the only people to think this was a wonderful Saturday field trip.  We have been to Huber's 5 or so times over the past few years and we have never seen it this packed!  We stood in line for what seemed like forever to get some lunch, the kids picnicked on a hay bale (actually pretty cute) and then it was time for some apple and pumpkin picking.  It all ended up being worth the trip, the kids LOVED apple picking!  They were able to pick right off the tree and just had a blast.  And the best part, we got to ride on a tractor wagon each trip.  After apples we went out to a pumpkin patch.  They didn't end up having any small pumpkins that the kids could pick up, but the experience was just the same.  We did pick out some small pumpkins from the farmer's market before deciding to load up and head home.  It was a long drive home, especially if miss car sick got, well sick again.  Fortunately for the way home, both Jack & Maggie slept a good enough amount of the drive and no one got sick.  Even with the detour and bout of car sickness, it truly was a wonderful family day at Huber's, and I already look forward to our trip next year!

Chicken nuggets and french fries picnic

Keller family Fall 2012

Picking apples

"How tall this fall?" Jack

"How tall this fall?" Maggie