Autumn Pickings!

Today was a day for picking apples and pumpkins with Fiona! We picked her up early, chatted with her already busy-on-yard-and-housework parents, then loaded up the Toodlebug down the lane. Spying FOUR black squirrels on the way we talked about the population boom of this unique little breed, and of the albino white squirrel that I see every day near my workplace. Squirrels of all sorts give me enormous joy, but a special place is held for the black and white ones :) We then hit breakfast at McDonald's. Fi & I shared a Big Breakfast of hot cakes, eggs, sausage, hashbrowns, biscuit and chocolate milk, John opting for a Sausage and Egg Biscuit. Having a nice, relaxed meal indoors, getting out of the parking lot was an adventure in itself! Wow, loads of people go to Micky D's for brekkies, although who can blame them? Me & Fi's Big Breakfast was $3.95! After navigating the sea of crazy drivers, we made it out of the packed parking lot and hit the road to Afton Apple Orchard! The drive was stunning with all of its autumn beauty, and we listened to Fi's adorable 10-year-old chitter until the lull of the road and the gorgeous colors set us all into a calm trance. Minneapolis and the surrounding areas must be at peak fall colors, because the palette was a perfect mix of greens, yellows, oranges, reds and browns. The sky was tumultuous, baby blue behind an array of clouds, some fluffy white, others unsettled, grey and rolling. The sun made sporadic appearances throughout the day, making it overall an absolutely perfect Saturday.







Once at Afton, the winds revealed themselves and it was quite cold. Bundling up, we paid our entrance fee and hopped onto the hay ride to pick some Honey Golds! A first apple picking experience for all of us, we had fun finding perfect apples to pick, making our way down the little lanes of trees. After gathering a few Honey Golds, which are green, by the way, not gold, we wanted some red apples. Hopping onto the next available hay ride, we trundled along until we reached Regent's and a large, beautiful patch of pumpkins. The sun came out full throttle, and we lingered over these lovely trees as we picked their fruit until our bags we at capacity.











Time for pumpkin picking! The highlight of this trip was definitely the picking of the seasonal pumpkins! This patch was full of orange bounty: fat, squat little pumpkins with perfect ridges, tall ones great for carving, enormous ones no one wanted to get stuck carrying around, and even itty-bitty tiny ones that little kids could easily hold in one hand. Fiona set about making a pile of all the ones she thought fit to choose from. I was standing guard over the haul. Uncle John hauled the heavy bags of apples behind her, helping her pick out nice specimens. After much running about and searching, she came back to make her choice. They were all so cute, it was hard to leave any! She opted for a taller one that would be good for carving. I chose a nice small one, and John chose a larger one.

















Then came checkout. Oh, checkout? No biggie, right? WRONG. Oh, so wrong. So so so so very wrong. It was like a people-making machine barfed everyone out into this tiny little shack. Lines for about 6 different checkouts, including a line for the cafe (yes, this teensy-tiny place actually has a cafe), and a butt-ton of produce-hauling wheelbarrows. I can't believe it, but I actually remained calm, except for admonishing one lady for cutting into line. As we left, I searched up and down for a lone Biffy that I might grab a quick pee in before the long drive back to the city, but none around, I didn't care. I was NOT GOING BACK IN. I held it all the way to Barne's and Noble which was the next stop on our Fun Day with Fi.

Having a lunch of stuffed pretzels and bevvies, we hit the kids section. Right away, Fiona stumbled upon a new release of a series of books she's been obsessed with. She grabbed one, wanting to "make a stack with the other things I want so I can decide which to buy". She loves making her little piles of things :) It came down to House of Hades book, an American Girl scrapbook set, a My Little Ponies game with figurines and a Tinkerbell game with figurines. This was much more of an important decision than the apples and pumpkins, so it took, understandably, quite a bit longer. She fretted over which to buy for so long, she plopped down on a stool, laid them all out and asked me for a pen and paper so she could make a pros and cons list. That kid is the awesomest kid :) We left with the Tinkerbell game and figures and the House of Hades book. Who can choose just one?

Such a fun day with our little niece!!