Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Apple Of My Eye









A couple of weeks ago now we went to do some apple picking. Joe somehow had a Sunday off and we enjoyed a beautiful fall day in the orchard at Mainely Apples. And as you can see Lily was well dressed for the ocassion! In August I had a fun girls day spending the whole day outlet shopping with my friend Laura in New Hampshire. When I saw this little apple hat and shirt while we were shopping I just knew I had to have it. I can't help it- in her little apple hat Lily is just too cute for words! Anyway, she was quite the hit at the orchard! In fact, one of the workers asked me if I would send them a picture- and now Lily is front page of their website (check it out at http://www.mainelyapples.com/)!
Not only was she cute while we were picking apples, but she was actually VERY helpful. Apparently all the cold weather we had at the beginning of the summer did a number on the apples this year and Mainely Apples lost close to 75% of their crop. As a result they were pretty limited. The day we went they were only picking Macs- and let me tell you that there weren't very many to choose from. To get anything of decent size you had to be able to reach way up into the trees. This is where Lily was very handy- Joe would lift her up and she would pick the apples. Not sure how we would have done it without her! A few times though I would just hear her laughing and Joe telling her over and over again to grab the apple- apparently she thought it was funny to let her daddy hold her up there forever! With my ankle still being weak (and dangerous apples to trip on everywhere) I didn't do a whole lot of picking (I couldn't really reach them anyway)- but I had a great time watching Joe and Lily!
A week later Mainely Apples began picking Galas (one of my favorite kinds)- so Lily and I decided to head back out there all on our own! Joe said I was brave. I was determined. We went the first morning they were picking and it was wonderful! The apples were pretty small, but there were tons of them- and so low to the ground that Lily could pick them all on her own! Lily and I picked two buckets full in the same amount of time it took all 3 of us to pick one bucket the time before! And do you know what is even more amazing? I chose to leave my camera at home this day! I know- it's shocking! But I figured between a bad ankle, big belly, and chasing after a toddler in an orchard (all while trying to pick some apples) I had enough to manage! And what would you know, at one point Lily actually sat down, posed, smiled, and asked me if I was going to take her picture!!! Are you kidding me?!! This is the child who looks away whenever I bring the camera out...and she chose the one day I didn't have my camera to be photogenic! Go figure!
All in all apple picking was a success this year and as usual was one of my favorite fall activities! Maybe I'll go enjoy one right now!

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