An Old-Fashioned Fall Fest

Happy Halloween! And Happy Reformation Day, too! :o) We have had a great day here! Andy and Taryn hosted an old-fashioned fall festival at their house. We had a fire, roasted hot dogs, made home-made apple cider, and had a hayride! We had a great time, and it was such a fun way to spend the day! It was cool (in the 50s) and windy, but sunny, so all of the kiddos had a great time playing outside.

Collette especially loved swinging with the big cousins:


And she thought that sitting on a hay bale by the little gourds and pumpkins was pretty neat, too:



The big highlight of the day was making fresh apple cider the old fashioned way. Andy and Taryn bought an old-fashioned cider press at an estate sale (actually, the estate sale of OUR house before we bought it) and it is so fun. We put whole apples in, turn a hand crank to crush them, and then hand-turn a press to squeeze out the cider. The kids had so much fun putting in the apples and turning the crank:



Daddy found a great place for Collette to be where she could see the action but not get into trouble:


She actually really enjoyed her apple crate spot:




And we got lots of yummy cider:


After the cider, it was time for a hayride! Here on the farm, we do authentic hayrides, with hay wagons and tractors that are used for everyday work! And we got to take an extra-long ride around all of the property. It was great, but COLD! By the early evening, the temp was in the 40s, and with the wind blowing, we needed lots of layers and blankets!



The cold didn't seem to bother anyone, though. Almost all of the kids fell asleep on the hayride. :o)

This upcoming week is a busy one for us, so I may not get to post any more this week. LL, Collette, and I are going on an overnight retreat Wednesday-Thursday, Thursday night I'm teaching my class, my mom arrives on Thursday, and then Friday we will be in full preparation mode for Collette's Llama Llama Red Pajama birthday party on Saturday!! Can you believe she will be ONE this week?!?