Apples!

Welcome Fall Festivities!

Brad and I had heard some good reviews from some friends, and we were looking for something fun to do with Eva a couple weekends ago, and so we ended up at Sky Top Orchard in North Carolina.

When we got there we immediately tried an apple cider doughnut and a pumpkin doughnut, along with some delicious homemade cider. Then, we let Eva play around on the playground that they had while we waited for the next hayride.

After lots of slides and running around on the playground apple, we got on the hayride. Eva liked it for about 1 minute, and then she wanted to stand on her own. She hated that Mommy or Daddy had to hold her steady. She wanted her independence! And she still wanted it after falling down when the tractor hit a bump in the path. The only thing that got her to sit back down with us on the bench was sugar cereal.

After the hayride we walked over to the farm animal area. They had ducks, geese, goats, peacocks, sheep, rabbits, chickens, and turkeys. Eva loved looking at the animals from a far distance. She didn't really feel good about getting close enough to feed them.

After the animals we took a walk through their bamboo forest. Eva loved walking through the trees and touching all the bamboo. She kept trying to shake the trees. She was very interested in how tall the trees were.

We finished our adventure at Sky Top Orchard with some apple picking. It took us about an hour to pick 5 whole apples. This is not counting the apples that were bitten into and or eaten by us as we walked around picking more. Even though we only ended up with 5 apples, Eva really enjoyed picking them off the branches and biting into as many as she could.

It was such a fun trip to do and I'm glad I got to do it with my favorite people in the whole world. Eva got extremely tired towards the end and definitely put on her grouchy pants, but it was worth it. I can't wait to go back next year!

The drive to Sky Top Orchard was so beautiful! The leaves on the trees were just in the beginning stages of changing colors.

Eva is soooo tall. This is what she does when you ask her what a giraffe does.

Enjoying some delicious apple cider doughnuts. They were so good!

The Orchard had a playground area and this is the apple house that Eva loved to run around in. See video.

Eva loves "sas" which translated means slides. She spent a lot of time going down this thing while we waited for the hayride.

A family shot on the hay ride. Eva looks thrilled.

My favorite picture from the entire day. Classic. She did not hesitate at all when we told her to stick her finger in her nose, by the way.

Brad pretty much had to force Eva to help feed the ducks. She was terrified of getting so close to the animals. See video.

Brad did a good job feeding the animals, though. And Eva loved watching him do it. As long as she was a safe distance away from them herself.

Here's a flower Eva picked. She smelled it a few times and then gave it to me and forgot about it completely.

They had a really cool bamboo forest that Eva and Brad enjoyed exploring. I, on the other hand, tried exploring and almost got stuck with my big belly, so decided to play the role of the photographer and stay on the wider beaten path.

Eva checking out how tall the bamboo trees are.

Finally time to pick some apples! Eva loved to pull the apples off of the trees. Some were a little harder to get then others, so Daddy usually ended up having to help.

Every apple that Eva picked was bitten into. I think she ate 2 entire apples on her own while we were picking. That is a lot of apple for a little lady.

A view of the orchard behind us. The weather was so pleasant and the view was amazing.

And this is probably the most honest shot of the day. It was after all the animal seeing, bamboo exploring, hayriding, and apple picking that this nearly two-year-old could handle. Mommy requesting this last picture sent her over the edge. If you think she looks like she is crying, that's because she is. And I still took the picture. Twice.

As a side note, here's a picture of Eva on her first day of nursery! I can't believe she is 18 months old already. Getting to ditch her at church is a relief and a stress. Mixed emotions that I think are partially influenced by my pregnancy hormones. I just can't stop thinking every day how she is growing up too fast. How time is going by too fast. And then on the other hand, not fast enough.