Ohio goodness

Apple picking....the epitome of Ohio, midwestern wholesomeness :) I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday afternoon on a crisp, fall day than with my family in an apple orchard. Of course with Curt and Lauren in town from Kentucky, my parents still reeling from the surprise of seeing me home, CJ's usual antics, and Cara's happy-go-lucky attitude, it was bound to be anything but a routine apple picking event....and it certainly didn't fail to deliver! Let's see...where oh where to begin....

Ah yes, I guess I'll start with Dad driving past the apple fields because he spotted the sign for "Amish baked goods" on up the road. After promising him we would return for the kettle corn, roasted pecans, and apple cider, he turned around and proceeded back to the apple fields. The attendant says we can pick from the trees marked with pink ribbons, so dad sees the first tree with a pink ribbon and stops the car. This would have been a good plan except, and I quote Curt, "This tree is the Charlie Brown of all apple trees!" ....literally the tree came up to Curt's waist and had at best 2 apples on it and the rest rotting on the ground. We tell dad to turn the car back on and continue driving, that we could pick from ANY of the trees with pink ribbons and it didn't have to be the FIRST tree we saw with a ribbon.

We pile out of the car and head into the beautiful apple orchard where the fun begins :) Dad happily tries to stomp on every apple he sees on the ground, while mom sizes up each tree for the perfect apple, and Curt and CJ begin an apple throwing fight. Cara, Lauren, and I are busy snapping pictures of everyone. We're not too far into the orchard when mom reminds us all NOT to eat the apples until they are washed because of pesticides, and just as she says it, we look to find CJ happily munching on a golden delicious apple. He didn't get sick, but we sure had fun for the remainder of the apple picking convincing him otherwise :)

We ended up with 2 full bags of apples (plus 2 apples Curt put in his pockets just to be a rebel) and yes, we went back for some Amish baked goods....which started a whole other discussion on how Amish cookies are different from non-Amish cookies - good question, Lauren! Haha!

A wonderful weekend in Ohio, but now back to being a grownup in the city.