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.

Wilmington Trip

We planned for a couple of months to take Monday off and go to Wilmington for a 3-day weekend. Julie had her flights booked and we were ready to go when Mick's mom had to have back surgery--there were some complications and she ended up having three surgeries in less than two weeks.  So the night before we left, Mick decided he needed to be in Brunswick with his parents and didn't go with us to Wilmington.  We were all disappointed, and considered taking Em to Brunswick instead, but ultimately decided the best place for the three of us wasn't the hospital.

Saturday morning, Em and I headed to Wilmington and Mick to Brunswick.  Julie got in around 10:30, and we were there by a little after 11am.  Cody and Em really got along well this trip--they've gone through some stages where they seem to fight like brother and sister, but their ages just seemed like a good match this time.  There were a few reminders needed that Chase is younger and needed their patience, but overall it was a success for the three of them (which made it a success for the adults too!).

The afternoons were even warm enough for them to get in the pool in the backyard!

The four of us really enjoyed some relaxing time together--Saturday afternoon, Jason got some shrimp and we picked up some chicken for the grill.  Dinners are easier and more enjoyable at home when there are three kids around!

Aunt Julie brought all three kids coonskin caps and wooden flutes from her cross-country trip, so they had a great time with those.

Practicing their innocent looks.

We enjoyed a concert.

And they really had a great time playing together and acting silly.

We built a fire and Em couldn't wait for s'mores to dig into the marshmallows.  After the kids went to bed, we stayed out by the fire until we were all tired.

The next day, there was plenty of time for costumes and fighting evil.

All three superheroes ready to rumble!

They just couldn't get enough of the costumes.

On Sunday, we went to downtown Wilmington for a the city's 250th birthday and fall festival--this was Em's first look at the Battleship Memorial.

She enjoyed posing by this car--she's in love with convertibles!

There was a bounce house with a big slide they played on for a few minutes.

We stopped for lunch and everyone was getting a little tired.

The festival had horses (a sure bet to make Em smile!),

and they all three even got to ride them.

Em thinks she's a pro!

Em loves anything that resembles an animal, and she needed to pet this dog statue. 

The festival had chicken wrangling for the kids--lucky for me that Jenn got in with the kids and got these awesome pictures!

Clearly, it was a hit!

Again Sunday afternoon, the kids enjoyed the pool while we relaxed and watched them.

When they dried off and changed, they watched a movie together while we got dinner ready.

They had skipped naps again today, so we had plans for early bedtimes!

We stayed in on Sunday night rather than build another fire, but the steaks on the grill couldn't be beat!  Em was thoroughly impressed that Cody could read the bedtime story they shared.

                                         

On Monday morning, we spent a couple of hours at the beach--it was a little cool and overcast, but the plans for the kids to stay out of the water didn't last long!  They even got to feed the seagulls some cereal we had.

And of course, Em and Chase waited until the day we were leaving to become friends.

 It was a great way to end the trip because they'd all really wanted to go to the beach. 

Since Julie's flight wasn't until late, we decided to have a nice relaxing lunch together on the water. Good call--it was delicious!

And Jason took the kids out on the pier so they could feed their leftoever fries to some seagulls.

Em and I left shortly after that to come home--she took a nap on the way home, and Mick got back from Brunswick around the same time we did.  It was a fun weekend, and over too quickly!

Spirit Week

Em's class had Spirit Week this week--every day they dressed up in different things just for fun.  She is so crazy about wearing costumes that she really got into it every day.

Monday was pajama day, and I didn't get a picture of Em, but I will say it's much easier to get her ready for school in the morning when there's no clothing choices necessary :).

Tuesday was 70s day--bizzare for 4 year olds, but we made the best of it.  I cut off a pair of old jeans that were too short for her and sewed on these bell bottoms in sparkly blue (her favorite color).  We cut streamers in the bottom of a tie-dyed shirt she had from last year, and made her a headband to match her pants.  We had some groovy peace-sign temporary tattoos that she put on her face and arm.

She was super excited to get to school, and everyone made a big deal over her outfit, which made her pretty happy.  This picture is her saying good morning to George the guinea pig, who is one of her favorite things about her class.

Wednesday was grown-up day, and we struggled a little bit with this one.  Em wanted a dress that twirled (really the only important thing about a dress to her), so I took this knit skirt of mine and took up the back of it so it fit around her like a dress.  She picked out the accessories herself, and I put her hair up in a big bun.  The shoes didn't last all day, but she wore them into the classroom at least.

Thursday was cowboy/cowgirl day--I forgot to take a picture of her in the morning, so this was when I picked her up in the afternoon.

Thanks to Grandma, she had this super cute cowgirl outfit to wear!

Friday was "wear your favorite costume" day, and she decided on Princess Jasmine.  She was planning for this to be her Halloween costume, so I told her she'd need to choose something else to be for Halloween if she wore this today.  She even took her pet tiger, Rajah!

It was a fun week--we just love her classroom and her new teachers.  They do a great job with the kids, and she's continuing to learn so much!

Happy Birthday Gracie!

Before Emily was born, I made homemade dog cookies every year for Gracie's and Bella's birthdays. Em was determined to do something special for Gracie's 11th birthday this year, so we found a recipe for peanut butter and banana cookies.  Em loves being in the kitchen, and was excited to pick out all the cookie cutters she wanted to use.

She had a great time rolling out the dough and cutting it into shapes.  Her birthday is September 11, and the cookies lasted almost a week after that--Em used every opportunity to give treats to Gracie and Bella.  She's totally crazy about them :).

Handwriting

Em has been working hard on handwriting--they're learning lower case letters, which are quite a challenge when she's been writing everything in all caps for so long.  She loves dry erase markers, so I bought this handwriting book for her to practice.  Our biggest issue right now is that she's such a perfectionist, and gets pretty frustrated when she doesn't make the letter just right.  We still have some work to do for sure.

Fancy Dance

Em really seems to enjoy dance, and none of her good friends at school are taking it anymore, so we decided to stop with Daisy Dance and let her start with a real dance class that will ultimately determine if she wants to stick with it.  We enrolled her at Carolina Dance Capital, which is in Ballantyne and really close to work for me and school for Em, and her first class was Thursday afternoon.

She called it fancy dance, because it's a real dance school and there are classes for every age.  She was excited to start--we'll see if she's as excited by the time the recital rolls around in May!