Apple Picking

We had a fun Saturday picking apples!  We started at Snow-Line Orchard for some fresh apple cider donuts.  The kids loved watching the whole process before getting their fresh bag of mini donuts.  William thought they were delicious, and probably ate 10 donuts by himself.  Elliott took one bite and decided he was done.

Next we headed up to Willowbrook Farm to pick our apples.  It was the first apple picking day of the season, and the kids were the first little apple pickers. 

We loved that the trees had apples just the right size for our little apple pickers!  The apple trees were winesap apples and the trees were over a hundred years old.  It was such a cute little farm that was very small and friendly, but had enough fun things that the kids were entertained for quite a while.

The boys each got their own 5 pound bag to fill up with apples.

William was very careful to make sure his apple didn't have any worm holes,

Elliott loved to pull the apples and have about 4 others fall down.

Such cute little apple pickers!

Next up was cider making.  It took about 7 or 8 pounds of apples to make 1/2 gallon of cider.  The boys chose their apples very carefully, and put it in their bucket.

Then they took it over to the cider press and dropped the apples down the hole.

Daddy used his big muscles to turn the crank, which ground up the apples.

Then the boys spun a wheel that pressed down on the ground apples.

Out came the juice into our bowl,

then the bowl was poured into our half gallon jug.

After the cider we went to visit the animals.  First was Blossom the pig.  She was a big pot belly pig that was very friendly.

Then we visited Comet the miniature pony.  (Elliott says this was his favorite).  Elliott was happy to go in and give him a pet, William was happy to watch.

We visited with some clucking chickens,

and then to see Flopsy the giant rabbit.

Both of the boys were super happy to ride the old-fashioned tractors. (This was William's favorite).

William liked changing the gears and turning the wheel, while Elliott rode in the back.

After we were done, we headed down the hill to the famous Apple Annie's for their mile-high apple pie, made with 5 pounds of apples.  It was definitely worth the stop!

The kids loved the drive up the mountain and all the beautiful trees.  We were able to see lots of cows, horses and even some wild deer on the side of the road on our drive up.  As much as we love living down by the ocean, it is very fun to have a day up in the mountains.