Apple Picking

If you've ever engaged in conversation with me for more than 5 minutes, first of all, congratulations.  ;-)  And second, you probably know that Fall is my favorite time of year.  I announce this to the world as frequently as possible in the hopes that one of these years God will not only hear one of my declarations, but take pity of me (or at least get really sick of me saying it) and let me enjoy more than a couple weeks of decent Fall weather before Winter comes.  I would live in perpetual Autumn if I could.  I love the sweaters, the crispness to the air, the leaves changing colors, the sounds of leaves crunching beneath your feet, and all the smells of the good things there are to eat and drink this time of year.

So it's no surprise to me that I fell in love with apple picking on my first visit.  I've never done it before, mostly because there was never a super great place to go close by.  But this year, living in a new place, we received a most awesome tip from a friend (thanks again Julie - seriously!), and on Saturday headed to Oriole Springs orchard, only about 20 miles away.  It was the first day you could pick the honey crisp apples.  Oh my, they were/are delicious.  We bought a 1/2 bushel, and are now just salivating at all the possible things we could do with them (besides just eating them, we've already made some applesauce, cider, and sauteed some to go over ice-cream)!

A bunch of friends were caravaning out and we were going to meet them there.  Ha!  It was so crowded that I never even saw one of them.  We did bump into our friends the Van Wagenen's, which was great.  And Emma loved hanging out and wandering around with Abi.  Next year we'll definitely caravan with everyone now that we know how crazy this experience can be.

The weather was perfect, crisp, slightly overcast, sweater wearing weather.  I could've stayed all day just enjoying the ambiance (and of course eating the apples - which I maintain is the best part of going there) and the perfect Autumn-ness that the day offered.  Needless to say, we will definitely be doing this again next year.

The line of cars to get into this place was crazy long!  We were 2 miles back from the front, and within minutes the line behind us was probably at least that long.

Emma was such a great helper.  I love that the trees weren't super huge and tall so she could reach some of the apples.

Even though she could reach plenty of the apples, Emma seemed determined to get some of the apples from the very tops of these trees.

Almost there!  The quest for top apples continues.  I love the action shot!  She jumping up in this picture willing herself to the top.

While in the orchard, you could eat as many apples as you wanted.  Yum is all I can say about that!!

Emma with her friend Abi

Bless her little apple-pickin' heart!  I sure love my girl!!

Campout with the Scouts

Eric is the scoutmaster in our ward, and recently went on an overnighter with the troop.  Emma wanted to go with him, and he was kind enough to oblige her.  There was a little pond close to them, and they tried some fishing.  I just love how relaxed Emma looks in these pictures.  She had a lot of fun playing with the scouts as they ran around being crazy and playing games too.  Thanks Daddy for taking her with you for a fun overnighter!

Random Silliness

The other day I stumbled upon Eric and Emma and this is what I found:

I don't know why after playing their Lego game they decided to stick their heads under the couch, but they did.  And then when Emma heard me take a picture she decided to stick her head out along with Perry the Platypus for another photo.

Sometimes I wonder what I'm going to do with these two crazy people!!  You know, other than loving them even more for being so crazy to begin with.

The Nina & Pinta

Replicas of the Nina and Pinta were recently docked in our harbor.  Eric really wanted to go see them, so we made not one, but two attempts to do this.  The reason we had to do it twice is that the first time we tried the wind was way too strong and they weren't letting people get on board.  I thought it would have made the experience more accurate if people were wanting to throw up over the side from getting sea sick, but whatever.  Maybe that's just me.  We took some pictures that first day anyway, including some down by the lighthouse.  The wind was causing the water to explode and was creating some beautiful shots, none of which were accurately captured by me, but it was still awesome!

On our second attempt to get aboard the ships, we were successful.  It was a beautiful, calm day.  Emma was a little bummed that the ships weren't going anywhere, but she enjoyed looking around.  It was hard to explain the historical significance and interest these ships held to her.  But here are a few pictures of our day.

Captain Emma

Reluctant Sentimentality

This post is as much for my Dad as it is for me.  If nothing else it will show him that I am sentimental about some things, which I usually claim not to be.  In all fairness to me, compared to him, I am absolutely NOT sentimental.  We're almost at two completely different ends of the spectrum, but this post will prove (not that I'm trying to prove this point - I actually wish I weren't this way at all) that I am somewhat, on a limited basis perhaps, sentimental.

This train of thought started as we've been going through Emma's clothes getting ready for school to start and for the change of the seasons.  It  happens at least twice a year that I go through all her clothes to see what still fits and what we might need to get for her.  For some strange reason she'd prefer not to be naked from a lack of clothing.  If she would listen to me and just stop growing it wouldn't be an issue.  Her clothes would last forever.  And we're pretty good about stretching the life of her clothes.  She has a few items of clothing that she's worn since she was 2 years old.  These items were pants that later became cute capris and still fit this last summer as shorts.  She's just gotten taller.  These things just keep fitting her.  Dresses keep on working because you can just wear leggings with them when they are shorter.  Shirts are the hardest of course, and usually last the shortest amount of time.  She's always in need of shoes and outerwear though.  It doesn't help that she's like me and just wants lots of shoes too.  And she loves boots!  I'm so sad because today we discovered that a pair of super cute brown knee high boots no longer fit her.  I just might have to cry about that later.

But with all the turnover in clothes and the fact that she keeps getting taller, and celebrating birthday after birthday, I seem to be able to cope fairly well.  Last year when she started Kindergarten I wasn't a basket case.  I didn't know ahead of time how I would react to taking her to school and leaving her, but it wasn't too bad.  It helped that she loved it there, and I was in her class at least twice a week volunteering.  Plus it was only half days.  Then we moved here and she started going to full day Kindergarten.  Okay, that caused me a little anxiety, but that's just because I am a worrier.  And not even about logical things.  Yes, I worry about those, but sometimes it's the smallest and dumbest things that make me go "crazy" with worry.  And I am fully aware of how ridiculous I am.  But, with that said, full day Kindergarten was also a fairly smooth transition.  She recently celebrated her 6th birthday (still can't believe it) and started first grade.  On the one hand I can't fathom that I have a child in first grade, but on the other I am fine with it.  She still loves it, and I still have my daily worries (you know, your child is out in the world sort of on their own - ahhhhhh!), but all seems to be smooth sailing.

And then today we went through her toys and books and things to get rid of what she doesn't use anymore, and I discovered something very sad: my little girl is growing up.  And it's more of a heartache than I thought it would be.  Where did my nice billowy sails go?  I sat there looking at some of the toys she no longer plays with and wants, and at some of the much loved stuffed animals, and asked Eric why I have more attachment to them than Emma does.  He couldn't answer me.  Well, he probably could answer and just wouldn't because he was thinking things like: "because you crazy girl" or "how do I answer this and get her to still give all this stuff away" or "Drat, I knew I shouldn't have walked in here right now".  ;-)  And then it hit me:  ahh crap!  I actually care about this stuff?!!  Like my dad cared about some of my old crap from when I was little?!!  NOOOOOO!!  He can't have been right about this!  This is not how I want to spend my emotions.  For example, I was looking at an old Dorothy the Dinosaur stuffed animal (from the Wiggles) that I am shocked we still even had it's been so long since Emma played with it, and I was remembering how bright her eyes lit up when we gave it to her.  We sent away for that and I was so excited to give it to her.  She toted that thing everywhere with her.  And now it's as good as trash to be thrown out.  It no longer holds any meaning for Emma.  To me though, it represents her childhood slipping away.  I realize she's only 6 and still very much a child, but still, you get my point.  More than the new clothes and the older grades at school etc, giving these things away is officially closing the door on those chapters of her life.  I'll never have those years with her again.  And as much as I adore the Emma she becomes each and every day (I can't help loving her more and more every moment), my heart aches for the Emma being left in the past.  I could seriously do without this part of parenthood.

And yes, we will in fact be getting rid of the things we initially set aside.  This post wasn't to confess that I now have a closet full of unwanted toys and books.  See Dad, I do have at least one sentimental bone in my body.  It might be only one, but it's there and it stings something fierce right now.

I think I need some chocolate....

First Day of First Grade

Yesterday was Emma's first day of first grade.  I still can't believe how old she's getting.  She loves school!  And yesterday was no exception.  I think this year will go a little more smoothly than last year simply because she'll be in the same school and the same class all year!  She was all smiles in the morning, and then all smiles when I went to pick her up.  Can't ask for more than that I guess.  Of course, I miss her while she's gone (I always do), but at least I know she's having fun.  After dropping her off I went to breakfast with a few friends, sort of as a distraction to the initial missing of our children.  It was really fun (and yummy).  Thanks again gals!

This year Emma wanted to wear the exact same thing she wore last year on the first day.  So I thought I'd throw some of last year's pictures up for comparison.  The only difference in her outfit is the length of her leggings.  I can't believe how much she's grown.  :-(  What happened to my itty-bitty baby?  Ugh, well that's a lament for another post.

Last year

This year

Last year

This year

My big first grader