Apples, Pumpkins, Waterfalls, and Harvest Moon~

Even though we had had a sickly week, we decided to head to the mountains just as we had planned.
We left about 9:30 and drove to Bryson's Apple orchard~

 Everyone carried their bucket up the hill, but they all came down in the wagon~

 We fought off the gnats and yellow jackets to pick 7 buckets of apples~

 It was a beautiful morning for picking~

We always drive about 14 miles over a couple of mountains from Clayton, GA to Highlands, NC.
We always stop a couple of times to take in the view~

 Pretty breathtaking~

As soon as we were in Highlands, we drove straight to the waterfall~

There are tiny caves along the way and then we walked behind the fall~

Made it to the other side~

 Someone asked to take a photo of our whole family... made me SO happy!~

With the waterfall done, we headed into town to visit all the shops and many shopkeepers that remember us year to year~

We LOVE going to Highlands UMC to pick our pumpkin and we picked a BIG one~

The day wasn't over because when we made it back to Clayton, GA,
we surprised the children with dinner at The Dillard House (family style, all you can eat)~

 Payne exclaimed, "This is exactly what Farmer Boy's family ate on Sundays!"
So we decided this was our Farmer Boy celebration because we had just finished reading it~

It was wonderful that they got to visit a little Farm Animal Zoo
and what do you know... there were more GOATS than anything.
Wow! I love when things just work out so seamlessly.
It was the greatest ending to a our first Little House book of the series!

And if that wasn't enough, we got to the see the biggest. most beautiful Harvest Moon ever~

So we pulled over, everyone got out and watched it rise in the sky.
This photo doesn't even start to do it justice, but it's something to remember it by!
We love this tradition of our Mountain Day~ This is our fifth year in a row!

Click on the year to see the babies growing up...
2013
2014
2015
2016
Such wonderful memories!!!

Apple Orchard, Waterfalls, & Pumpkin Patch~

It is a family tradition to take a day during the week to visit Bryson's Apple Orchard~

 Everyone grabbed a bucket and headed off to find the biggest!
This was Calla's first time, and I remember last year telling the owner we would have a new baby when we came back.
So surreal to have her in our arms showing her what families do~

 We made it to the top of the hill with full buckets AND hearts~

 Time to pay up. We forgot the checkbook and no check cards accepted SO
it was a blessing SJ had 'her' money to loan us the cost of a wagon load of apples~

 We left with a carload of yumminess and drove on to Highlands, NC to Dry Falls
where the kids LOVE crawling in caves and walking behind the falls~

 We were so happy someone offered to take our family photo
and then I took the sweetest photos of just the kids~

We always buy a pumpkin from the little white church nestled in the mountains of Highlands
and enjoy ice cream/caramel turtle apples too.
It was certainly a full, long day but lots of memories were made
and family was seared into their hearts just a little more.
"Go Big or Go home!"

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World~ {FIAR}

Our FIAR book has been a repeat but the kids loved it anyway.

We rowed How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World~

As we read we mapped the trip around the world on maps

and the most interesting page on this read was the rainforest where cinnamon is harvested 

so we found a video to watch and sprinkled some by our map of Sri Lanka!!!!

On Wednesday we took our traditional trip to the mountains for apples and a pumpkin~

 Our first stop was Bryson's Apple Orchard and we picked a lot of apples~

{ate some along the way as well!}

 Everyone filled their buckets so heavily we had to load them into the wagon~

 It was cool this year being able to read tags that labeled the kinds of apples growing~

 We headed back to pay for our apples and fried apple pies~

 Such a fun stop on our day of fun~

 Heading farther up the mountain we found lots of beauty to thank God for...

Magestic mountains and wonderful waterfalls~

 Last stop was Highlands, NC where we chose our perfect pumpkin and named him Freddie~

We had dinner and headed home tired, happy, and Fall filled!!!

Thanks dad for making this family tradition a reality!

Schooling on the road is the best.

The next morning we thought over our trip and everyone chose their favorite memory~

 I printed photos and they wrote about their favorite memory in their journals~

For Cook-a-Book we made an apple pie in our iron skillet~

Recipe~
Peel and slice apples thinly then sprinkle with 1/2 c sugar and 1 T cinnamon.
Add to a greased iron skillet.
In separate bowl mix 1c sugar, 1c self rising flour, 1 c milk, and stick of butter.
Mix well and pour over apples.
Bake @ 350 for 35-45 min until golden brown.

A wonderful week of rowing and look forward to next week!!!

Fall Trip to the Mountains~

We loaded up Wednesday morning headed to the mountains for apples and pumpkins.

Our first stop was Bryson's Apple Orchard~

 Everyone picked their bucket half full and we even ate a few~

 We paid for our three bags full and headed on to Clayton for lunch~

 Made a few stops to take in breathtaking mountain ranges and waterfalls~

 Made it to Highlands, NC and chose our pumpkin~

 The next day we made a yummy Skillet Apple Pie~

Recipe~
Peel and slice apples thinly then sprinkle with 1/2 c sugar and 1 T cinnamon.
Add to a greased iron skillet.
In separate bowl mix 1c sugar, 1c self rising flour, 1 c milk, and stick of butter.
Mix well and pour over apples.
Bake @ 350 for 35-45 min until golden brown.

Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Pumpkin Patch w/ BC~

Savannah and Josh wanted us all to go to the Pumpkin Patch for BC's very first time!

We were more than happy to go along~

Didn't bother us a bit that it was raining... {Evie was catching a few drops in her hand}.

We loved seeing BC experience all the fun of a big ol' pumpkin!

Just wonderful to all be together for a family day!

Can you tell from EK's face they were kind of over all the pics I was requesting?

Thankful for all these beautiful people!!!

Loved it Savannah!!!