Sunday, September 30, 2012

Apple Day!

Last Saturday, we set out for a fun day of apple picking! We drove up to Longmont in search of a fun apple orchard. A friend of mine from work had told me about Wide Horizon Farms. It is a small farm that was featured on 9 News because, despite the drought, they had an overabundance of apples this year. She had taken her family there a couple of weeks ago and said they had a great time. Wide Horizon Farms does not have a website or phone number. I could only find their address online. So we put it in the GPS and off we went! 

As we approached, my phone's GPS could not find the address. So we tried Mark's and it seemed to be leading us down this road...
We were a little leery, but decided to head down anyways. We saw a few rows of apple trees ahead, but as we got closer, we did not see ANY apples. There was no sign to tell us if we were at the right place, but we did see a man in a truck. So we stopped to ask him if this, was indeed, Wide Horizon Farms. He said it was and he said to hop on out. We were ready to turn around and leave being that we still had yet to see any apples on his trees. 

When we got out of the car, he told us, "It's a little like an Easter Egg Hunt out there." And that it was. But he was the cutest little old man with cotton in his ear, and we just couldn't leave him now. He kindly showed us where to find some apples and how to pick them and then he went on his way. 
We were the only ones there so we spent 30 minutes or so "hunting for apples" and goofing around in the trees! 

The trees were the perfect height for the boys to grab and pull apples right off! 

It took awhile to find ones that were big enough and didn't have any worm holes in them. 

But the boys LOVED carrying their buckets around and finding some yummy apples. 

Brooks and I hung out and he held onto this apple...too cute! 

He wanted to eat the leaf! 

Auntie Mal and I wore flip flops...style over practicality...total Chicago girls! Mark thought we were silly! 

Love his serious apple picking face! 

Mark and Nolan walked up and down the rows searching for good ones. 

Heath and Auntie were apple picking partners. 

Many apples were munched on at the orchard...BEFORE purchase! 

Look at how tiny some of them were! 

We put Brooks on these hay bails! He was NOT a fan! 



The apples were only a dollar a pound. And we only picked 3 pounds! So it was a cheap but fun excursion. That night we used the apples to bake an apple crisp for Brooks' Dedication luncheon. Thanks to Martha Stewart for the yummy recipe! 

Being that this wasn't exactly the Apple Orchard experience that we had been hoping for, although fun, we decided to head over to another apple orchard that my friend Rachel from Women's Group had told me about. It was also in Longmont and it was only about 10 minutes away.

Ya Ya's Apple Orchard

Now this is a FARM...they even have a sign! Ha! 
And plenty of animals! 

This horse was HUGE! The boys, and Auntie Mal, were a little afraid of him, he was SO big! They didn't want to touch him. 


But they loved all the other animals. This turkey was cute! 

There were some smaller horses too. 

Mallory was even scared of the small ones. 

I loved watching her tentatively check them out! 

 This poor horse was missing it's eye!

The boys loved all the scarecrows! 

Mallory snapped this rare photo of Mark and I! I love the rustic barn in the background. 

Farm fun! 

This picture is so Heath...mischievous!

This one is for Laura...Heath made friends with the donkeys! 

Nolan found a big orange pumpkin hiding here.

We had yummy apple cider donuts! 
  
And we took a family hay ride. When Nolan climbed up he just plopped right down on the ground in the middle of the hay wagon! We had to explain to him to sit on the bales of hay around the edges. He loved sitting all by himself and thought the ride was so cool! 


Heath sat with Mommy.

And Brooks sat with Daddy. The views were gorgeous! 

After the ride we took a few more photos. Nolan kept wanting to be in all the shots! But then was squinting so bad from the sun!

He finally let us snap a sister shot without him. I think it is a framer! 

We had such a fun day and I love creating new and fun experiences for my boys! And we were so happy that Auntie was there to do it with us! 

Thanks Auntie Mal for always making it a priority to spend your vacation time to come see US! We sure love you tons and missed you the second you left! Counting down the days until Christmas!!!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Only Lions and Birds that Fly

Last Friday, I took a personal day and spent the whole day with Mallory and the boys! It was my first day off in 10 weeks, and I was soooo in need of it! This working everyday thing is really getting to me! Ha! 

First thing in the morning I took Brooks for his 9 month well check. Everything is looking good and he continues to be a healthy and happy baby! Here are his 9 month stats: 
Weight- 18 lbs 2.2 oz @ 15%
Height- 28.5 in @ 55%
Head Circumference 45 cm. @45% 
He is still our tiniest baby by far! He is 5 lbs. less than Nolan was at 9 months! And almost 3 lbs. less than Heath! And he is a couple inches shorter than they were too. His head is the same size as Nolan's was. Sometimes I think it looks a little big on his tiny body! Hopefully he'll grow into it! 

After his appointment we ran home and picked up Mallory and the boys and headed straight downtown to the Denver Zoo! On the way down we asked the boys which animals they were most excited to see. Heath said, "only lions!" and Nolan said, "Birds that fly!" 

It was the perfect day to go to the zoo- mid 70's and sunny! When we were buying our tickets we saw a sign posted that read, "Bird World Closed Today." Sorry Nolan. No birds for you today! Normally this wouldn't bother me...I can't stand birds. But it made me sad to know that for some reason my 4 year old boy really wanted to check out birds today and wouldn't be able to! So Mallory and I were on the look out for birds in all other areas of the zoo that we could point out to Nolan. 

It was so fun watching the boys get really excited about each new animal we saw. Too bad Heath also had a big disappointment...there were no lions to be seen! We swung by their habitat 2 times and didn't spot any. 

 We watched this leopard jump out from behind the rocks. It was pretty awesome! 

The Polar Bear was sleeping in the sun, we were hoping to catch him swimming, but no such luck. It was a lazy sort of day for the animals. 

These Sea Lions were so funny! 

We made sure to check out the new elephant exhibits. We didn't see their shows, but they were beautiful and their new home was very cool! 




Brooks went along for the ride and was great in the stroller- looking around, checking the animals out, and sleeping off and on! 

The penguins were one of our favorite animals of the day! They were super active- swimming wildly, jumping in and out of the water, and splashing each other. They were so cute...and a bird! Not a flying one...but a bird! 

It can't be a trip to the zoo without a stop at the jump zone! 

Nolan was also full of facts about these flamingos...also birds! Why this boy likes birds, I'll never know! I blame it on "the bird book" at Oma & Opa's house! Ha! 

In the monkey house we spotted this guy...a TITI! Heath used to call Mallory "Ti Ti", so, of course, we had to snap a picture with it! It's a term of endearment! 

Does Nolan take after his Mommy and have l-o-n-g arms?! 

This ape was sleeping right up by the glass. Nolan asked me a bunch of questions about evolution because he spotted some signs comparing man vs. ape! Oh my! How do I explain this to my inquisitive 4 year old?! I tried my best! 



 Love these smiling, happy faces! I needed this fun day with them! 

And of course, more spoiling from Auntie took place! The boys each got to pick something out at the gift shop. Nolan wanted a stuffed animal of course. His imagination runs wild with them! After much deliberation we decided that a bird would be the best option since it was his animal of the day! So he found this fun peacock. It is a really beautiful stuffed animal and very well made. Nolan named him "Zazu". He is really good at naming animals and always comes up with something good. 

And Heath, being typical Heath, went with his sweet tooth, and picked out a sucker! He's a cheap date, but was TOTALLY happy with his blue lollipop! Bigger is not better to him. Sweet is always best! $1.19 was all it took and he was thrilled because it matched his shirt! Silly boy! 

 It was a special day for the boys full of so many great memories! They're are still talking about it.