Year 2, Day 237: Annual Apple Picking Field Trip

It may still be August, (the 25th) but the apples are ripe!  And one of our homeschool field trip groups planned an annual field trip to the orchard we have visited almost every year we have lived in Indiana, Pleasantview Orchard (formerly Anderson Orchard).  It's only 10 minutes from the house!  There were only a couple of muddy spots in the orchards, but they were easy to get around with the wagon we were able to borrow.  Again, the weather has been incredible here!  Sunny, or partly cloudy, and in the middle 70's!  That's actually cool for August here.  Apples are ripe because the trees bloom quicker in the spring than their counterparts in New England where we wouldn't pick apples until the end of September.  And they are very different kind than what we used to pick.  But, an apple is an apple to little kids, so it doesn't matter.

Annual photo.  I won't dig up the throwback photo I probably posted last year though.  We've usually gone to this orchard with a group. Our first years were with our MOPS group.  And we took Grandpa Howell the year that Grandma Howell died.  I'm so glad we did because he passed away soon after the next one and was too sick to go.

Yeah, a hay bale pile and slide!  There used to be one at the pumpkin patch, too, but they replaced it with a regular playground.  I think hay is more fun because the city kids don't get to play in it too often.

Ta da, I climbed it myself!

Going down the slide without any anxiety, yeah!

He did climb it all by himself.

Go get 'em!

So cute!  I did make the kids wear a red shirt, but I tried not to focus on this field trip being the only time we go or that I have to get certain pictures.  Just a laid back day at the farm.

Hanging out with new friends.

Again, he was ready and able to go down the slide all by himself without hesitation.  Just a few months ago, he wouldn't have done it.

Never too old to slide!

Adorable!

Aww....

Getting so big!

The sign has changed a bit over the years, but they still put in the same place!

I did take photos of each one picking apples.  We only picked 1/2 peck because we knew we wouldn't go through them that fast and they weren't our favorite kinds of apples.  We did pick a variety, and I even snuck a couple of my favorite kind, red delicious, which were probably ready in the next week or so.  They looked ready to me.

Keturah was trying to guide Abishai to pick some and told him exactly how to do it without hurting the bud for next year. She learned about that on PEI.

Read and ripe Jonathans!

Pretty dry conditions, and not too hot this year!

Justin's turn!  I didn't see Justin much of the trip because he was off making new friends, yeah!

Abishai refused to be part of the picture.  And, unfortunately, I didn't get my picture taken either. Boo!  But the middles look matchy matchy in their gray shirts.  And we are insisting Justin wear a hat every time he is outside for an extended period of time now to prevent heat exhaustion.

I let them each eat one apple and made sure we didn't fill our bags too full.  You pay for them before hand.  And like I said, they had these awesome wagons we could borrow for free.  Most years there have been a lot more people from other schools and families, so we have never used one.  Pulling that around was super easy compared to the umbrella stroller.  Abishai rode in it most of the time.

"I like fresh apples, Mom!"  Yes, they taste way better when they are freshly picked, I would totally agree!  Just like any other fruit and vegetable.

Then we end our apple picking session with an apple cider slushie!  Abishai handled his all by himself this year.  I love how cheap a treat they are!  All told, I spent less than $20 on this field trip.  The apple store is a moderate sized building and they have local honey, jams, eggs, etc. as well as apples already picked, locally grown peaches and plums, corn, caramel apples, and on weekends they have other menu items like hot dogs and so much more.  They will even show how they sort apples for pressing for apple cider.  And, they even suggested to a mom who wanted a caramel apple cut up to share with all her little ones, that they can just cut up a regular apple and then pour some caramel sauce on top of it for her.  Oh very thoughtful!  We sometimes have gotten caramel apples, but they are always a hassle to finish.  Plus, no one needs that much sugar!  Apple cider is high in natural sugar though.  They didn't have any to sell yet for this year, so they must have been using a batch from last year or another farm for the slushies.

And we went back to the playground, which was the highlight of the day for the kids.  Last year, only two other families showed up.  But this year, about a dozen did, so everybody found a friend.  Yeah!  Most brought their lunches.  I wasn't feeling great, so I didn't bother pack one since we usually eat a late breakfast, I already knew I was buying a treat, and home is only 10 minutes away.

Making friends.

I love how this playground has regular wood steps and not a ladder.

Part of their storage barns and apple trees taken from on top of the playground steps.

Another view.

And cornfields, of course.

They had this gravel/sand pit area made from old tractor tires.  Sounds familiar doesn't it?  We had a tractor tire sand pit at the Beech Grove house.  Abishai loves digging but we don't have an official sandbox for him yet.

The house belongs to the current owners of the farm, and the building on the right is where the farm store is.  They also have mums for sale.

I practiced with Abishai how to pick up the gravel and then just uncurl his fist and let it fall to the ground without throwing it.  He did try to listen.  But you could tell that he was fighting the urge to throw it.

Aw, this girl was very chatty with Keturah.  Abishai did pretty well not throwing the gravel when the girls were up there. 

I had to ban Abishai from the hay bales though when I looked down and saw this after we picked the apples.  He was covered in hives!  Oh no!  I quickly shot off a text to Shauna to see if her girls are sensitive to grass and hay since they have the same complexion as Abishai and sure enough, Everly has issues with hay and grass.  Grrr....I guess I'll have to make sure he has long pants next time I know there is hay involved.  He seems ok in grass because he sits in it all the time at home.  So, I'm glad we got the first few pictures of him on the hay before we went picking and then was able to caught this before he wanted to go back on it again.  He seemed to understand and stayed over on the wooden playground and the gravel tire pit for the rest of the playtime.

They didn't seem to bother him, so I didn't put any cream on them.  I do have the Benadryl brand of anti itch gel though, just in case.  Poor baby.  But now we know.  The rest of the kids don't seem to have an issue.  And after all that playing, Abishai had a really long nap and when he woke up, the spots were so much better.  Yeah!