Apples and Curds

One of our favorite days of the year usually comes in early October, when Kelli and I travel with her parents to Praire du Chien, Wisconsin to take in the leaves, buy some apples and cheese, and eat some waterburgers at Pete's. We've been making this trip for at least seven years, and I can't remember ever being able to wear shorts!

Our first stop of the day is always my personal favorite. Valley Fish & Cheese.

From Prairie du Chien, we drove up the road to Shihata Orchards.
We bought some apples and Charly played in the pumpkins.

In Gays Mills, Kelli and Carol had to visit The Pumpkin Lady.
Each year, the same lady is set up in the parking lot of a bank.
She sells trailer after trailer of pumpkins, dirt cheap.
Kelli and Carol buy enough to fill the back of the vehicle.

Charly actually posed for a picture outside Sunrise Orchards!

The line for Pete's was too long. We didn't get waterburgers this year.

Chad and Megan were shopping for apples with Jackson and Griffin too.
So we all met for a late lunch at Mr. McGregor Beer and Brats Garden along the river.

We ended the day with a walk through Pike's Peak.
With rain coming this week, we lucked out and may have seen the trees at their peak.
Charly loved looking at all the colors and playing in the leaves.
We even ran met my mom and dad with Beau, Ashley, and Cruz.

Charly and Cruz were thrilled to see someone their own age!

It was a long and busy day, but always worth the trip.

I would've slept most of the way home if it wasn't for the entire car shouting, "Move that bus!" through West Union!

Down on the Farm

Last weekend we made a short trip to Ames to visit the Center Grove Orchard. Last year Chad, Megan, and the boys met Jodi, Blaine, and the boys here while we were in Minnesota. They had a lot of fun and we couldn't wait until this summer when we could go along with our little one, and maybe start a new family tradition.

Center Grove is primarily an apple orchard, but to describe it as such, would be an understatement. It's almost like an Adventureland for farm kids! Kelli and I thought the $8 admission was a little steep upon paying it, but later realized it was totally worth it. There's so much for kids to do. The nephews had a blast. And Charly, well she just enjoyed watching all the kids have fun . . . and the goats licking licking her tiny little hands!

There was a large corn pool, water pump rubber duck races, a farm animal petting zoo, multiple playhouses, a pedal tractor obstacle course, a jumping "pillow" trampoline, a corn maze and a hay maze, a super slide, an apple slingshot target range, tractor hayrides, and a pumpkin patch. Cooper was so excited and happy that all his cousins were together. Sweet and reserved Brooks could have gone down the super slide all day long. Jackson wandered from activity to activity losing track of his family on a number of occasions. And Griffin . . . he ate everything in sight!

Maneuvering Charly's stroller and bag throughout the farm proved tricky at times. Kelli had to improvise when feeding her and changing her in the "Potty Barn" was interesting. But Charly loves any opportunity she gets to be around her rowdy Doerrfeld and Henning cousins. We couldn't have asked for a better day with better boys!