Picking - apples & dandelions that is

We spent Saturday at Alyson's Apple Orchard in New Hampshire. Just about 45 minutes from our house.

Our first order of business was a caramel apple and the playground. Signe only ate one bite of the apple, but thoroughly enjoy the caramel as you can see. The playground only has swings & monkey bars. But that was ok for our little monkey, Anni just wanted to climb the pole.

The weather was lovely- actually a little hot for October - 86 degree! The tree are just beginning to change colors. I think that the warm autumn is making it a little later this year. We took a walk through the orchard before picking. It was a treat to let the girls walk ahead, not having to worry about cars and other safety issues.

Joining us on our walk were lots of Monarch butterflies! They all seemed so huge and different from the butterflies earlier in the season. I wonder if it's because this is the final generation of the season that will fly to Mexico. They were hard to photograph because I didn't have my zoom lens on. As soon as I would get too close they would fly away.

Anni's favorite part of the walk was the apples. I think that tasted tested at least 5 or 6 different ones. She'd munch on them for a while then drop them. A few minutes later she'd pick a new one.

Signe's favorite part of the walk was the dandelions. She picked a lovely bouquet and blew many thistles.

We stopped to swing and enjoy the amazing view at this huge tree. Kent found a monarch chrysalis on the tree - so cool!

By the time we were ready to pick apples, the girls were tired & hot. So I took them to the car to get a drink and Kent picked the whole bag of apples all by himself. When he was finished, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and posing by the pumpkins. Sadly none we are huge as last year.