apple picking bits

 apple crisp is in the oven on this labor day morning.

while it bakes thought i'd pop in to share a few of our bits

from friday's apple picking outing.

the family outing to the orchard

is one of my most favorite times of the year.

i'll tell you though, 

it definitely looks a bit different 

than it did when the kids were babes. 

we used to pack-up and trek out to 

one of the area's most impressive orchards.

we used to head out early

so we could beat the crowds.

we used to spend most of the day there.

we used to spend a small fortune

on all things apple & fall.

we (ahem i) used lug the big camera to

capture those precious fall apple picking moments.

we (again i) used to spend more time snapping pics 

than i did taste testing and picking each of the apple varieties available.

we (mama) are so grateful for those memories,

and wouldn't trade them for all the world.

however, fall schedules and full weekends

make it tough to spend a full-day trek to an apple orchard.

it's hard to find a free saturday or sunday.

nevermind that these days it takes my bigger kids 

a whole 5 minutes to fill the bushel. 

and one of the reasons we as new englanders can sometimes forget...

we have amazing local orchards right around the corner.

so with this weekend's 

first taste of fall that's just what we did.

no long drive.

no big girl camera.

no small fortune spent.

no rushed family outing.

thank you tangerini's farm.

you filled our family's fall apple picking buckets...

with a side of flatbread pizza, ice cream and the freshest cider donuts too!

oh and another little bit too.

essential oils are making a debut in this year's crisp.

it smells amazzzzzzing in here.

xo!