Apple Picking!!!

Today we went to an apple orchard so Matthew could pick apples for the first time! Now, the funny thing is, he doesn't like apples! I was so hoping this whole experience would really motivate him to try one, but it hasn't!

We packed our picnic lunch before heading out the door alittle before noon today to Millstone Creek Orchard in Ramseur. Matthew helped me make sandwiches and asked if we had a picnic basket. I actually do have one and we put some chips and our plates, cups and napkins inside of it and put the rest in our cooler.

When we told Matthew this morning we were going to take him to pick apples he was instantly excited. Phillip told him we were going to put him up in the tree and let him throw them down to us. He liked that idea, but said he couldnt' climb the trees b/c (and he raised his hands in the air to show us) he wasn't like spiderman. He was dead serious and didn't even crack a smile:) Later he told me he was going to shake the tree and make all the apples fall off. Luckily when we got there he didn't try this.

When we arrived at the orchard a lady met us and gave us our baskets. She told us to make sure we did a "twist and pull" when picking the apples b/c otherwise alot would fall off the heavily weighed down branches. We walked out to the trees labled golden delicious and started picking. We realized it was hard to find lower branches with apples still on them (must have been alot of little people picking) so Matthew got up on his daddy's shoulders and used him as a ladder! He loved picking the apples even though some were hard to reach.

Matthew got the hang of picking pretty quickly although he abandoned the "twist and pull' method almost immediately. It was very hot today in the orchard as apple trees just don't provide any shade. We picked a bushel and were on our way back to the barn and to get our picnic out of the car.

We enjoyed our lunch under the trees. We had hoped to go on a hayride and waited for a very long time but no others were signing up and they didn't want to just take us:( Matthew was very disappointed but we reminded him of the hayride we'd go on in October with Kylie at the pumpkin patch and he was alittle better. Not sure how they were able to overlook those big brown watery eyes but they did. Needless to say we'll be picking our apples at another orchard next year! Anyhoo.....

After stopping for canning supplies at Walmart we came home and Phillip and Matthew went to Bed Bath and Beyond to buy an apple peeler.! I will write more about that tomorrow!