An afterschool apple trip

I know that this beautiful fall weather we've been having is  going to eventually end so I figured I better get my apples before it gets cold and wet.  We have a 5  year old boy in our house who has to have applesauce on EVERYTHING that he eats for supper, so making my own applesauce is a bit of a no-brainer!

 

We headed out after school to Willowview Farms.  This is a wonderfully cute place to go with kids and a great way to spend the afternoon.  There is no admission fee, a petting zoo, a playground, a great little store and lots of different kinds of pumpkins and apples to choose from.

 

So, we grabbed a wagon and headed off to the orchard to find our apples.

Luckily, we had a great navigator.  Give him a map and he is happy for hours (kinda takes after his father that way!).  He quickly found the right aisles and we began to pick!

Once we loaded up with apples, we headed to the pumpkin section to pick out the perfect pumpkin.  They each found one to take home and carve out sometime in the next few weeks.

I really don't know how people get perfect pictures of all their kids smiling and looking at the camera.  At least in this one they are all looking in the same direction! :)

Finally, we went to the barn for awhile to check out the animals.  Some chickens, a few turkeys, a couple of goats and rabbits and pigs and 1 miniature horse.  This is probably as close as my kids will ever get to living on a farm!

All in all, a great few hours together, enjoying the last of the fall sunshine!

Pumpkin Patches x3

'Tis the season of Pumpkins!  I really do love this time of year.  There is so much colour everywhere and if the sun is shining, it isn't too hot.  The air is crisp and just feels refreshing.  It is also the time to check out the local pumpkin patches.  Both of the older kids had field trips with their classes so I figured I would take Jocelyn for her own little 'field trip'.  I also needed to buy some apples for my first attempt at making applesauce! (which actually turned out very well!)  Jocelyn wasn't as interested in the pumpkins as I thought she might be but I did manage a few pictures for the scrapbook!

At first she wanted nothing to do with those big orange things!

Eventually I did get her to sit on one!

After a little bit, they were kinda fun!

The red tractor was much more fun for her than the pumpkins!

 Owen had his Kindergarten field trip to Willowview Farms.  This was a great place!  It is free to go to and you can pick your own apples, which are delicious! 

Owen and his buddy posing in front of the wagon.

Listening very intently to the farmer explain everything they needed to know about apples!

They were each allowed to pick a mini-pumpkin.  Owen was not very impressed that they couldn't take a large pumpkin!

Sitting with his best Kindergarten friend!

 Finally, it was Kendra's turn to go on a field trip.  The Grade One trip is to Aldor Acres, close to Fort Langley.  It is also a wonderful place with lots of different things to see and do!  In Grade One, they are allowed to choose any pumpkin they want, as long as they can carry it!  Kendra was very concerned that it had to be a good one to carve her face into!

The perfect pumpkin!

Smile!

Posing with 2 of the friends in her group.

The best thing about this place, according to Kendra, was all the animals there!  There were cute little bunnies that the kids were allowed to hold, or at least that's what we thought.  We were informed later by one of the farmers that they were for the adults to hold and for the kids just to touch.  What is the fun in that? :)

A very calm and large horse that Kendra loved petting!

Overall, fun trips for all the kids!  Carving out the pumpkins we took home will be next!

Family photos

Here is a peak at the family photos we had done a few weeks ago.  Having these done had been on my wish list for a while.  A happened to come across a photo session done by Sharalee Prang for a wedding and LOVED the pictures that she took.  After checking out her website and other family sessions that she had done, I knew that those were the type of pictures that I wanted!  She somehow managed to capture my family and all of our personalities perfectly!  We are not very good at 'posing well' for pictures so it was great to be able to just let the kids play and explore and have her worry about taking the pictures! 

Grade One - Day One!

Today could not get here fast enough for this 6 year old!  She was very excited for her first day of Grade One.  Finally, she gets to go to school every day - something she is quite looking forward to.  It was so fun to see her so eager to get to school, see her friends, meet her teachers and just be in school ready to learn all kids of new things.  My little 'keener' - but I sure do love her!!

Pumpkin time again!

It is pretty difficult to get into the season of fall without a trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids thought it would be a fun place to take Grandma while she was visiting here. Here are a few pictures of our morning at the Apple Barn.

Playing in the ivy

On a beautiful fall day last week, I headed outside to trim all the crazy ivy that we have growing on the rocks in our backyard. I plunked Jocelyn down in the middle of it all and she had a great time pulling at all the leaves, climbing in the garbage can lid.

However, there then reached a time when she had had enough!! Time to go inside for a nap! Trimming the rest of the ivy will have to wait until later!