Picking the Perfect Pumpkin...

Picking the perfect pumpkin….say that three times fast! Whew!  We had the best time driving out to Eastern Long Island to pick out our pumpkins.  The kids took their time selecting their favorite one and loading it up in the wagon.  Mitch guessed within 5 pounds of our total pumpkin-weight so we got $5 off our total.  Bonus!  

Afterward, we let the kids get all their energy out in the bounce house, climbing on the wooden John Deer tractor and just running around.  It didn't hurt that they were cooking up some fresh cider donuts.  Who knew I loved cider donuts?  I sure didn't, but I'm sure I'll never be able to make it through another fall without at least one batch. 

Besides the wind, it was the perfect pumpkin patchin' day.  I feel so lucky to have these people belong to me.  Happy Fall!

East Coast Apple Picking...

A couple weeks ago we headed East to the North Fork of Long Island to Harbes Farm & Orchard for some good old fashion apple picking.  We met up with our friends the Sorbers, and ate apples until our bellies could take no more.  The kids were in heaven - picking, eating, picking, eating, picking, eating!  The weather was perfect too - sunny, with a slight fall chill.  

We filled up our bags with Honeycrisp and Gala apples, and took a few homemade cider donuts with us as well.  The kids loved the train ride back to the orchard, running around the apple trees, and checking out all the exhibits and animals that were out.

It really was the perfect way to kick-off fall.  Now, we just hope this weather holds for a little bit longer...we're not quite ready for another East Coast winter just yet!

We also picked up a huge bag of fresh corn and split it with the Sorbers.  We decided we needed to get together the following day to cook up some of that "candy corn" and had a yummy dinner.  The corn was DELISH.  Thanks for the fun day!

Dieter and Ossie waiting patiently for the cider donuts.

Underwood Family Farms...

On October 10, we headed up North to Simi Valley for our annual trip to Underwood Family Farms. This has become such a fun tradition for me and my kids, and I look forward to it all fall. This year the weather was absolutely perfect. We stayed and explored for hours (maybe 4) and had a blast doing it. The kids climbed the giant haystack, fed the animals, checked out the chickens, climbed through the tunnels, played on the wooden train, frolicked through the pumpkins, enjoyed the tractor ride, laughed down the tractor slide, and much much more.

I had to post these two pictures to compare my two little ones from last year and this year. Holy cow! I can't believe how much they have both grown up, but especially my little Dieter. I remember he was just learning how to walk this time last year. He was still so wobbly, and was tripping over the straw and pumpkins all day long. If you're a fan of looking back, here are our trips from 2010 and 2009 to Underwood Family Farms.

We had such a fun big group this year...this wasn't even all the kids! If our live's depended on it, we wouldn't have been able to get a picture with all of them looking - this was our best effort. Just imagine several moms barking like dogs....yes, I said barking.

Finnley with her favorite little buddy, Mya Poelman. Have I mentioned what a good big sister she is going to be? AWESOME! And Deiter boy, I think he's going to be quite the big brother as well. Let's just say this is one lucky little lady growing inside of me.

Once again, we had the best time. I can always count on UFF to give me my fall-fix and get me into the Halloween spirit.