Apples and Pumpkins

We made what's turning into an annual trip to an apple orchard last weekend. With Ann out of town, I took the kids out to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano with my sis Lauren and her little ones, Gabrielle and Derek. The kids had a ton of fun climbing on and over pumpkins, seeing some farm animals (Cailin and Gabrielle even got a pony ride!), getting lost in a corn maze and of course roaming the orchard picking apples. We must have been a little late this year. We got a fair amount of apples, but were really just limited to Firesides and a few Haralsons. Regardless, they were good... as were the apple turnovers, pull-a-parts, donuts... mmmm, yum.

Have a look at the pics. We're off to rake leaves this weekend, so maybe another posting soon..?

Summer turns to Fall

The leaves are starting to turn and there's a nip in the air, but we've had a great fall so far. We had a great day at the State Fair to start Sept. Evan got in on the rides this year and Cheryl and Jake helped us eat our way from one stop to the next.

The four of us got out for an 8 mile bike ride to support Pancreatic Cancer at the Purple Ride. Ann says a big Thanks for everyone who contributed.

Cailin started 1st grade and so far she's loving it. You can already see her reading, writing and even math improving. I also ran the TC marathon a couple weeks back. Wow, it rained harder than anything I'd run in before, but it managed to dry up and I finished well. 3:32.57 for anyone keeping score.

Well, we're hoping for an Indian summer or two up year. Some warmer weather would be nice to help while raking those leaves.

Check out Ann's blog on the new house. We think we've got an architect picked out, so things should start moving faster here. We hope that's a good thing! :)