Fall, Phase 3

For the past 3 years we've gone apple picking as a family at Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville. It's super fun. They're delicious. We go to Michie Tavern for lunch afterward. It's a grand time. It was conveniently located 45 min. from Richmond when we lived there. It's now not-so-conveniently located 2.5 hours from our house.

So this year we "branched" out and drove to a picturesque family farm in Markham called Hartland Orchard. LOVED IT.

A few comparisons we made while there, leading to our change of loyalty from Carter Mountain to Hartland (sad, but inevitable):

1. Hartland's plethora of apple varieties puts Carter Mtn. to shame. Our favorites: York, Fuji, and Granny Smith. Delicious.

2. Hartland lets you drive your car THROUGH the orchards to your desired picking spot, instead of having to park in a parking lot and trudge your family up a hill. Totally convenient.

3. Both places have apple pickers, which are heavy but awesome. Not recommended for kids. (Not even recommended for weak-armed moms who've slacked going to the gym all summer.)

4. On top of their gargantuan apple orchard, they've got over 4 acres of pumpkin plants so you can harvest your own pumpkin. This, admittedly, was only fun for Drew and me; the girls were not so impressed. Mostly they liked the wagon ride through the pumpkin jungle and were bugged by all the, well...bugs. I'm not sure, though, how I feel about our ONE 25 pound pumpkin costing more than our whole PECK of apples (I'm not sure how many pounds that is, but it's a ton, I assure you).

5. Although Carter Mountain has fresh-made apple doughnuts ready to devour after you've picked all your apple loot, Hartland offers apple-butter-making demonstration outside, a huge pumping cider press, and beautiful, cheap gourds by the crate-ful.

6. Also, Carter Mtn. charges you by the pound for you fruit, which can get pricey (we usually walk away muttering to ourselves, "How the heck did we just spend 25 bucks on apples???). Hartland, however, charges by the bag-ful, or peck. $10 flat rate- however many apples you can fit in a bag. Score.

So far we've made 2 batches of applesauce and caramel apples. Mmmmm...

7. And lastly, although we love the experience of indulging in colonial American food at Michie Tavern after Carter Mountain, Cafe Rio in Manassas was waiting for us on the ride home. Who can complain with that compromise?

Now THAT was a good day.

Addison has a cold. Makenna is starting to get one. I'm not letting them share sippy cups because I don't want them to swish swash their germs.

This afternoon Makenna picked up Addison's cup and asked, "Does this have Germans on it?"

This morning I woke up to find both my girls asleep in bed with us. After a couple hours of putting up with their kicking, pushing, and general restlessness, I roll over and Makenna declares, matter-of-factly, "Move Mom. You're in my space."

Thanks kid. Right back at ya.

Fall, Phase 2

One of our favorite things to do in the Fall, probably THE favorite, is to visit Cox Farms. In looking back through our blog, I wanted to link up to past posts I'd done about Cox, then realized I've NEVER DONE ONE! I can't believe this, especially since this place is so amazing. So I've come up with a Top 10 list for you in case you've never been.

Top 10 Reasons to Pay a Visit to Cox Farms:
1. It's one of the cheapest family dates around. In fact, up until this year, it's been absolutely free. Now, for online members (I get their newsletter once a year), it only costs $5 per person (over 2). Amazing deal, right? For our entire family to partake in 5 fun-filled hours of farming goodness, it was all of $15. DEAL.

2. The slides. Take a look at the pictures. 'Nuf said.

3. The hayride, which just keeps getting better every year. From Dora to Strawberry Shortcake to dancing aliens to the presidential line-up, just about every pop culture icon imaginable is there to greet you on this zany hayride.

4. Goat Village. A chance for kids to feed the goats from an ice cream cone filled with goat feed in it. We were convinced they starve the poor goats for 2 weeks previous to opening weekend, just so they'll eagerly engage with "the hand that feeds them".

5. A plethora of wood cutouts for picture posers. This is the first year I haven't had to bribe Makenna with oodles of kettle corn in order to get her to pose behind the creepy wooden figures. In fact, she was BEGGING me to take her picture. "Look Mom! I'm a farmer!" "Look Mom, I'm Dorothy!" and "Here Addison, stand here and stick your head through there. It's not scary."

6. The PHAT hay bales that dot the festival for kids of all ages to jump off. Makenna put many kids her age to shame by unhesitatingly taking a leap off the top.

7. Free apples and apple cider. Enough to get you drunk off its goodness. The first year we went, we spotted families filling up canteens and jugs with the cider(I thought it was a little shady, but I didn't blame them- IT'S SO GOOD). Then last year they had signs up everywhere, warning those hoarders to "beware".

8. A fun chance to hang out with friends. We've been going with the same friends for the past three years, which is always a blast. This year, though, word got out and we had a ton more families there with us!

9. Free pumpkins to take home! Each person scores a little pumpkin upon their departure.

10. Perfect Fall photo-op, resulting in tons of cute shots of the kids and family.

Love this place. If you live in the area, we'll see you there next year. If not, go find a rockin' Fall Festival near you and enjoy this gorgeous time of year!

Fall, Phase 1

I love Fall. Absolutely love everything about it. I love apple picking. I love pumpkins. I love the changing leaves. I love college (read: BYU) football. I love big pots of soup cooking on the stove. EVERYTHING ABOUT FALL.

However, sometimes it makes me a little melancholy because I feel like I should be getting a classroom ready and buying supplies for 30 little ones. Getting ready for school is a part of me. Before Makenna was born, I did it every single year until I was 27. What is it about a sharp pencil and a blank notebook that gets me going? But last year and this year have dulled the ache a little with Makenna heading off to preschool like such a big girl! She loves going. I love her going. It's such a GOOD THING.

So to document our big girl's 1st day, a few pictures to post.

She has her same teacher, Mrs. Pirhalla, from last year, which wasn't planned. She is SO excited to be one of "Pirhalla's Peeps" again!

Yep, I stayed after all the other mothers had come and gone. The teachers kept giving me the look, "Is there anything else we can help you with Mrs. Mann? No? Okay, bu-bye." I had to get the shot documenting my girl in action, though.

So with "Fall: Phase 1" out of the way, we are looking onto "Phases 2-?". Cox Farms Fall Festival this weekend. Apple picking, pumpkin picking, family pictures, Skyline Drive, BYU football, Halloween festivities, anything-pumpkin recipes, and tons more to follow.

Love this season!

Hats, I mean Tiaras, off to the Birthday Girl

A girl only turns 4 once. However, if you're our girl, you may think it's your birthday all month long. When we were in line at the airport to get on our plane, Makenna says, "I'm turning 4 today!" to everyone she ran into. You wouldn't blame her, though, if you knew all that she did to celebrate her birthday since we left for vacation on her actual birthday, August 3rd.

First, we woke up early to catch our flight, but not before we made Minnie Mouse pancakes for her birthday breakfast. That was the extent of her birthday day.

Second, while in Logan visiting Great-Grandpa and Grandma Mann, she was presented this gorgeous cake, which won her over immediately.
(Can I be honest? The Aerial figurine had a bigger, ah-hem, chest than I remember. Totally anatomically inappropriate, I must say.)

Third, when we got to Grandma Karen's house, our girl had yet another birthday party with her cousins. Totally spoiled by her aunts and uncles! We're now going on day 4 of "It's my birfday today! I'm turning 4!"

Fourth, we've made our way down to Arizona to be with her 2 uncles and Grandma Donna and Grandpa Mike. Grandma, in her infinite wisdom of what tickles my girl's fancy, took her to Build-A-Bear. Upon entering the store, she declares to our helper, "It's my birfday today and I'm 4 years old!" I just smile and nod.

Lastly, we arrive at Saturday, her ACTUAL birthday party. And oh, let me tell you, she felt like a princess indeed. I could not resist when she asked me to have a princess party over 6 months ago. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for anything and everything pink and glittery.)

We started with our invitations that I must admit, turned out pretty darn cute.

Then with both feet and hands full of frosting, I dove into the task of making her requested and much-anticipated Princess Castle Cake. I think this was as much for me as it was for her. I knew when I got roped into taking the Cake Decorating class at Michael's before she was born, I would learn some mad cake skills and then put them to use for countless birthdays to come. And voila!

Next, we invited her closest little friends and strongly urged their arrival in royal attire. Check out little Gavin's knight costume. Way too cute.

And lastly, I had some princess games up my sleeve that our royalty really got into (who knew 4-year-olds could be so competitive? I guess with a stash of dollar-bin prizes up for grabs, you would be too.).

Crown decorating:

Pass the Poison Apple:

Pin the Crown in the Castle:

Then it was pizza, presents and princess cake to end the royal extravaganza. So much fun for her. So much fun for me.

Love our little girl. She's getting ready to start her 2nd year of preschool in a few weeks. I took her for her 4-year check-up. She's still in the 96th percentile for height, the 68th percentile for weight. They tested her vision this time. Though I was waiting for them to tell me she needed glasses (both Drew and I wear contacts, and I'm legally blind), she actually has 20/20 vision! Incredible. I told her to enjoy it while it lasts.
She's such a great big sister to Addison. A fantastic helper around the house, (when she wants to be). She picks up the funniest things that constantly keep us in stitches. I adore her and wish I could keep her this kissable forever. Happy Birthday Month Makenna!!!