How do you like them apples?

It was a gorgeous weekend for apple and raspberry picking! It's become our tradition every fall to visit Applewood Orchard in Lakeville and this year was no exception; thankfully they weren't too busy and so we spent a couple hours picking first apples, then raspberries, playing in the hay pile and then letting the kids run through the maze. We might've snacked on a couple apples and a few raspberries along the way and once we got home, I made my first-ever apple pie! Does it count as homemade if I bought a pre-made pie crust? I think so!

Hard to bit into an apple when you're missing your 3 bottom front teeth!

This is what I got when I asked Zoe to show me her apple

Aidan disappearing around a corner of the maze

My first pie! The kids LOVED it - Ellie had 3 pieces!

That wasn't all we did this weekend; initially we'd planned to head to the cabin and attend Amery's Fall Festival. We hadn't missed a Fall Festival in years but Dave and I had gotten ourselves in the middle of a painting project at the house on Friday, and with a few other things going on we decided to stay home instead. We did manage to sneak over to the Apple Valley Fire Department's annual Booya for the first time since moving here 6 years ago: since it's always the same weekend as Fall Festival we'd missed it every year until now. For those of you who haven't heard of it, booya is a thick soup/stew made over the course of a day or so with various meats and vegetables, cooked in huge kettles. Basically, it's a huge party and open house at the Fire Station. Dave and I both thought the booya was excellent but of course, the kids stuck to hot dogs and chips. We turned them loose at the park behind the fire station afterwards before we headed home, back to painting and lots of time playing outside!

A boy after my own heart!