Our impromptu trip to the apple orchard today in Mountain Rest, SC started with Lucas and preschool. Several weeks ago, Lucas came home from preschool begging me to take him apple picking. The theme for that particular week in his class was apples, so they made apple sauce, created apple stamps and apparently talked a lot about apple picking. I brushed him off with some lame excuse about apple orchards being too far away, but my ever-clever little boy was too smart for me when he suggested that we plant an apple tree in our yard instead -so we wouldn't have to travel far at all. He talked about that idea for at least a week.Sometimes I have to be reminded that he's four, and I can't distract him as easily as before.
But fate was on Lucas's side when Matt came home with a bag of "magical mountain" apples from his racquetball partner, Rose. Okay, I'm only kidding about the fate part, and no, the apples did not contain a special power, except for their exceptional taste. Matt was so enthusiastic about these particular apples, we spent the evening discussing why grocery store apples are so lame versus these oh-so-delicious-and-crisp-why-can't-I-stop-eating-them-apples. Multiple apple consumption later, we decided a visit to this apple promise land was required.
Now, I said our trip was impromptu and that's because while we talked and talked and talked about these apples, we didn't put any forethought into actually putting a trip together, until today. This morning, after stealing a loot of clothes for Ava from yard sales in a local, upscale neighborhood, and then visiting with some friends who dropped by for a bit, we decided that the time had come for us to go!Two hours later, we arrived to our destination, that is incidentally, only 45 minutes away.
No, our GPS did not fail us. You see, we first had to pack snacks, round up jackets and a missing baby shoe, remind Lucas 18 times to go to the potty before we leave, get gas in the car, check air in the tires, print out directions in case GPS did fail us, and pick up lunch.
Don't you just love how long winded I am today??
Lunch. Well, that's a story in and of itself. A coupon promising half-off prompted us to try a new place in town called Coach and Jo-Jo's. A weird name, but super great food! Bird dogs, sloppy joes, hot dogs and fresh-cut fries are just 4 reasons why you have to go there! We watched them take a large spud, cut into the perfect size fries and cook it. Fresh, I tell ya!
So that is why we arrived at the Bryson Apple Orchard with two very sleepy children (and a slightly cranky Mama). Don't you just love their faces in our "family photo"? Priceless.
The apple picking was a huge success, enjoyed greatly by everyone. Ava entertained herself by emptying our buckets of spoils and delightfully throwing the apples back in. Transferring objects is her favorite activity right now. Along with tackling her brother.
Our wonderful, long, and adventurous day ended with a batch of Momma's Apple Dumplings and an early bedtime for the kids. I'll share the recipe soon! Delightful!
Comments