Apple Picking

October 7, 2010

I had been thinking of visiting a “pick your own” apple orchard for a long time. A little research online convinced me that Stribling Apple Orchard would be the best choice. They had apples, farm animals, a country store and pumpkins, all points of interest to Kaley and Connor. The farm itself is a historic site, the buildings being originally constructed in the 1700’s. The first lease of this property was granted to William Marshall, uncle of Chief Justice John Marshall, in 1765. I found the history fascinating. You can read more about it at History of Stribling Orchard














It took us one hour to drive from Woodbridge to Markham, VA just off of I-66 where the orchard is located. When we arrived the farm workers were dumping buckets of fallen apples into the animal yards to lure them from the barn. Kaley and Connor were very excited to see the huge momma pig, cows, sheep, horses and donkeys. One friendly donkey stood near the fence and let them pet his side.

Our friends Kirstin and Charles Henry Falk were delayed exiting the DC area and so they arrive about an hour after we did. I took my time making sure the kids had a potty break and were thoroughly covered with sunscreen. We ate an early lunch and bought some apple butter. Kaley kept asking me “Can we pick apples now???” When Kirstin and Charles Henry, arrived Kaley could hardly hold herself back. She ran around dragging the plastic apple bag, begging to get started picking.


It seemed nuts to push the double stroller through the orchard grass, especially given that it was quite hilly. However, I finally decided it might be necessary to have the stroller along for transporting apples and children.


The farm gave us an apple picking tool on a long pole but as it turned out we didn’t need it because there were so many apples close to the ground.











Connor spent the whole event with an apple in each hand taking alternating bites from each. I tried desperately to clean the apples before he munched down on them, but after taking a few bites he would add his apples to the bag and pick two more. At the end of the day I had fun sorting out the apples that had bites taken from them.


I tried to give Kaley a little lesson in choosing the ripest and hopefully sweetest apples to pick but it really boiled down to the ones that she saw first and could reach. It didn’t take long to have 8 lbs of apples and I tried to slow her picking frenzy. I knew that there was no way we would be able to use any more. She would have kept on picking all day long.

The only nuisance to our day was the insects. Because of all the apples that had fallen to the ground there were many bees, yellow jackets and other insects buzzing around as the kids tripped over the apples. Thankfully no one was stung.



So with 8.5 lb of fresh picked red delicious apples - and what I hoped would be some good pictures - I headed home. Kaley fell asleep in the van immediately but Connor stayed awake the whole way. In fact, he never did take a nap that day. He must have been on an apple-sugar high.

Sabbath Afternoon Activities

September 11, 2010

Last Sabbath we decided to take advantage of the autumn like weather and go biking after church at Rock Creek Park. Richard and Ryan biked there in August, and the weekend before this we went walking with friends Scott and Kirstin Falk there also. So you might say it is one of our new favorite places for Sabbath afternoon.
The park is 1,754 acres, twice the size of New York’s Central Park. The creek itself is beautiful, snaking through the forest. It is really peaceful and the air is fresh. You can almost forget that you’re in the middle of such a large city. http://www.nps.gov/rocr/index.htm



We met up with Ryan after church at the National zoo. Since he has a Zoo membership we parked for free. The Zoo is located inside Rock Creek Park so it is a nice one-stop shop for picnicking, fun for the kids, and biking. Shelly had packed a picnic lunch which the four quickly devoured and Ryan brought, as he put it, the best falafel that he had ever eaten, to chow down on. After lunch we went into the zoo for a while to let the kids have some fun. We visited the new elephant exhibit, the lions and tigers, the prairie dogs, the tortoises, and the primate house. The three adults were kept busy keeping track of the youngsters among the weekend zoo crowd. Connor later stated that his favorite animal at the zoo was the “baby goriwah”. Kaley really enjoyed seeing the prairie dogs.


We then tucked the kids into their bike trailer and headed down the path. Richard certainly got the best workout of the 3 bikers since he was pulling about 80 lbs of trailer and kids. Initially the path was quite bumpy and curvy. Shelly biked behind Richard and watched the kids bumping along. They really enjoyed the rollercoaster ride and kept calling back “Mommy, you’ll never catch us”. About 20 minutes into the ride they both fell asleep. This was a real blessing since they usually can’t stand being in such tight quarters together for very long. We biked approximately 9.5 miles at what felt like a leisurely pace, to those not pulling the trailer. There were a number of other people out enjoying the day but the park was not packed. It was such an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.

When we got back the kids were ready to stretch their legs while we put the bikes and trailer in the van. They raced back and forth along a stretch of sidewalk. Uncle Ryan chased after Connor as he headed for the creek and the kids threw a few rocks into the water. Thankfully Ryan made a point of getting this shot of us with our bikes, otherwise this would be a blog about biking with only pictures from the zoo.

National Arboretum with Family and Friends

Trying to revive the blog... I was considering going back in history and adding posts about past events as lots has happened (Christmas, two big snow storms, new job for Cara-Lea, new office location for me, Richard has a new office location, Richard and Shelly have a new van, we have a new puppy, etc.), but instead I figured the first step should be just trying to stay caught up with whatever events happen now. Otherwise everyone will always be reading about events that happened a year ago...

Connor reaches for some cake.

So yesterday, I met up with Richard, Shelly, Kaley, and Connor at the National Arboretum downtown for a quick picnic and walk around the park. Friends from their church came too including Scott, Kirsten, and Charles Henry Faulk. Also some friends I hadn't met before, AB, Michelle, and Spencer I believe?

Warm day in 80s, but with a nice breeze.

Shelly had just tried baking a pineapple upside down cake for the first time, which is what is tempting Connor in the picture.  Connor has good taste, as the cake was incredibly good!

Kaley looks for a squirrel that had gotten away.

After lunch we went for a walk through the azalea gardens.  Perfect time to come as they were really blooming.  Kids enjoyed running around through the various paths, smelling flowers, and chasing squirrels.

Azalea

Connor, Richard, and Kaley

We then walked down to the visitor center where they have a koi pond.  Amazingly no kids fell in despite Connor's repeated efforts to touch the fish and Kaley's repeated efforts to stop him.  She wasn't being bossy, just concerned.  I think she believed that those fish were going to get him.

"I don't want him to do that."

Shortly after, we walked back to the vehicles to leave, put the kids in air conditioning, and the adults said their goodbye's.  Connor happened to find a pen within arms reach during this time and the rest is self-explanatory.

Pen + boy - paper = boy + ink

Fun day.  Hopefully by writing this stuff down, I'll actually remember some of the details 5 or 15 years from now...

Full gallery of pictures
Convenient slideshow