Apples and Bugs

My husband and I live in Portland, OR, and there are many great things about living here. It is beautiful, green, and lush; our city has incredible restaurants and food carts; the people are environmentally friendly and in return our city is clean.  But the best part of Portland is that my family lives here.  My Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brother and sister (Mom and Dad are in Bend but we LOVE to visit there) are all nearby. We love having family around because there is always someone to hang out with.  The only down part of living in Portland is the rain, rain, rain and our short two months of summer.  Being October, I have been in denial that the big, hot, sun will not be lost and forgotten for 9 months.

Last weekend, Portland experienced a rare rain-free Saturday in October. I had never been to an apple orchard and always thought a picnic in an orchard sounded nothing less than amazing!  So, I called up my sister-in-law, Sarah, to see if she, my brother and my sweet 2-month-old nephew wanted to visit an apple farm.   With little convincing we were all jam packed in their Suburu headed to Hood River to visit the Kiyokawa Apple Farm.

It takes an hour and half to get to Hood River from Portland and with a two month old baby this could have been dreadful.  But, my little bug-a-boo (as I like to call my nephew), was very pleasant the entire way to the apple orchard.

When we finally arrived, we ate or packed lunches, did a diaper change and a feeding for the bug to keep him happy, and then the exploration began. Kev-o picked up a Orchard Map and became our tour guide. The five of us wandered, I mean were guided by our lovely guide, through the apple orchard ooing and aweing at the 75 different types of apples grown on the farm.  It was the Honey Crisp Harvest so we were properly taught the technique of picking apples and we hunted for Honey Crisps as large as Bug's head, we came fairly close.

(Kev teaching us the proper way to pick an apple)

(Huge Honey Crisp Apples!!)

(Earwigs found in apples, not the kind of bug I like!!)

After successfully picking the best of the bunch of Honey Crisp apples, exploring the orchard, and drinking freshly-pressed apple cider, it was time to head home. It was everything I needed to accept that my summer was over and it was time to embrace the season of fall.  God knew what he was doing when he created seasons.  He created different treats and delights for each season for us to enjoy.