Apple Picker

Last weekend Nathan, Larry, Robin, and I took a drive down to Iron's Fruit Farm in Lebanon, Ohio, to go apple picking. We got some flack from a couple people from church because they wanted Larry and Robin to go on a motorcycle ride with them, so Larry was taunted with the name "Apple Picker!" Say it with disdain... it sounds like a pretty good insult! Anyway, we all know that picking apples is much more fun than a sore backside.

Most of the apple trees were pretty well picked over, but some still had some tasty looking apples clumped on their limbs. You had to be careful and look at all sides of the apples though- many had sores and weird mutant growths. Nathan found a sweet apple picking contraption which made it a lot easier to pick the up-high apples than climbing every tree (like I had done when I took this picture). ...Nathan's looking very determined.


Alright! He got one!


...Albeit small.


We did end up finding some nice sized ones and between the four of us got a bushel. We also saved a lot of money by picking them ourselves- they cost twice as much in the farm store!! Geez... I'd rather pick them myself anyway.


There were some odd sights to see at the farm. Some interesting folks were camped out.



There was lots of stuff for kids to do at the farm. Here's Nathan doing a nice job of riding a pumpkin!


Oookay, maybe not. Nice try, Nate.


It's pumpkin season! We're waiting until our Hallogivingmas party to buy some :)


On the way home we stopped at Grandma's Gardens, which is really close to where I work (By the way, I am still working... I swear, it's the job that never ends. Not that I'm complaining!). We wanted to see the fainting goats and got to see this awesome tiny train! There's Larry on the left wishing he was the conductor.


I absolutely LOVE the colors (and smells and feeling) of autumn. We had a really nice time :) Oh, and the day ended with the people who were teasing Larry getting a big batch of apple crisp left for them with a note that said, "From the Apple Pickers. Romans 12:20." ...which is "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." Haha!


...Do you like this background or does it bother you that it just repeats / that you can see the breaks between photos? I'm undecided. Help me out.