Apple & Peach Picking

I have anxiously been awaiting fall this year for many reasons, cooler weather, fresh apples, pumpkin coffee, meeting our new little boy, and not being pregnant anymore.  I have been wanting to go apple picking for a few months now, so as soon as I realized there were apples ready to be picked I was ready to go.  I also wanted to make sure to take Ashlynn now, just in case baby Wain makes an early arrival (wishful thinking, I know!).  Ashlynn, Nana, and I went to Mack's Apple Orchard this past Saturday.  Ashlynn was excited to be able to run all over the place.  She also likes having Nana drag her around like a princess in the wagon while she munched on her apples!  Ashlynn was weaving in and out of the apple trees, picking and apple here and there, mostly eating the apples that she picked.  She was a little confused and was trying to add the apples on the ground to our bag.  I keep reminding her that the dropped apples were for the deer to eat.  Then she would tell me 'Momma don't worry, Daddy's Deer will eat the apples',  Daddy would be pretty happy if he had his own group of Deer.  After we finished Apple Picking we decided we would also pick some peaches since they were still in season.  This is a benefit to picking apples so early in the season!  Ashlynn and I both love peaches so we picked a Small bag for our lunches, and to do some cooking. 

Here are a few bonus pictures of the sunflowers we grew in our garden!  I feel like Ashlynn is already more domestic than I am, she loves to garden, cook, and take care of our chickens!

Apple Sauce

Ashlynn has been big into cooking lately, I have been trying my best to let her 'help'!  She also loves apples, so I figured apple sauce would be a perfect cooking project for use to work one.  Ashlynn thought the apple peeler was very cool, and peeled most of the apples for me.  She also managed to eat quite a few apples during the process! She also added the seasoning to the apple sauce for me.  She was such a big helper.  I love that she gets so excited about cooking, and helping me.  She also really enjoys eating the things we cook together.  I think we will be making more apple sauce in the near future.  Next time we will try out a new crock pot recipe, which will be even better because I won't have to worry about the stove being on.

New Castle Beach for Labor Day

Labor Day we went to New Castle Beach -Big Island Common State Park.  This is the beach we used to go to when me and my brother were little kids.  I really think it is the best beach around if you are bringing kids.  They have a huge playground, flush toilets, outdoor shower, huge grassy area, and the walk to the beach is nice and short.  Ashlynn, Ethan, Nana and myself went a few weeks ago, and had so much fun we decided to go again!  Ashlynn loves playing on the sand, but most of all she loves spending time with her cousins, Aunt & Uncle, and Nana.  The weather was great, not too hot, but not too cold either!  Maddi and Ethan spent some time in the tide pools looking for creatures.  Ashlynn gave that a shot, but the rocks were too slippery, thankfully Nana was there to catch her a few times.  Ashlynn and Ethan burned off some energy running up and down the beach, and even wrestling a little in the sand.  Maddi spent some of the day working on some of her art, including a beautiful birthday card for me!  We enjoyed a picnic lunch, and a seagull made away with Ashlynn's left over pizza, which the kids thought was quite funny.  After lunch we played on the playground.  Evi was laughing the whole time!  Of course on the way home we stopped at the Ice House for some Ice Cream!  Ashlynn had a nice long nap when we got home, not a bad day at all!