Apple Picking

I've wanted us to go apple picking for a couple of years now, but I always seem to wait too late in the year to think about it, or we never have a great time to go.  We decided to go in mid October because the Fuji apples (my favorite) are ready to pick.  We all like apples, but I eat the most of the three of us, so my vote won :).  We went to Sky Top Orchard near Flat Rock, NC--it was a short 2 hour drive and perfect weather.  We got there a little after 10am and grabbed our buckets to head to the trees!

I was pretty sure Em would have a good time, but she was really more excited than I anticipated, especially after she found apples she could reach!

There were tons of apples on the ground that animals had started on or that had just fallen from the trees.

Em always likes when Mick puts her on his shoulders to reach things.

And that gave her much better access to the good apples.

The buckets filled up fast with all three of us picking.

Then Em enjoyed climbing a few trees.

We stopped for a few pictures.

We don't always remember to take family pictures when it's just the three of us, so I was glad we got one.

There was a little area with goats, sheep and ducks that Em took a minute to feed.

And maybe her favorite part was a big play area--there were swings, slides, and all these little houses for the kids to climb and play in.  She and Mick played there while I waited in line to get apple cider doughnuts. It was about a half an hour wait, but well worth it--they were delicious!  We ended up with about 30 pounds of apples and a dozen doughnuts.

A little before 1pm, dark clouds started to roll in and we knew from the forecast that rain was coming.  We drove the couple of miles into Flat Rock to have pizza for lunch at Flat Rock Bakery, and were glad we picked a table under the covered area when it started to pour!

It was perfect timing--we finished lunch and headed home.  Em slept the whole way home, which was also nice.

On Sunday, we had to start putting our apples to use, so Em and I baked two apple pies.  She has an Amelia Bedelia book about baking an apple pie, and in it, the little girl uses extra apples and dough to make her own pie.  Em decided she wanted to do that, so she used this mini loaf pan and was pretty excited about her creation.

We decided to freeze one of the pies for later use, and we kept one to eat.  Em enjoyed helping create the lattice top for one of the pies.

 I was so glad we finally got to an orchard this year--it made for a really fun weekend.