Apples, year 3

It's hard to believe that this is our third annual trip to the apple orchard. We started going the year Jack was born and we decided to make it a fall family tradition. I just can't quite wrap my brain around the idea that we've been doing this for three years now. Time is really flying.

This year we picked over 70 pounds of apples! Luckily our neighbors, Katrina and Mark, turned us on to this fabulous apple peeler. When you are mass producing applesauce with two small children underfoot, anything that saves time is a huge help. We all pitched in for the first of many batches (easiest baby food recipe ever!) over the weekend and already we've eaten through a giant Nancy's yogurt container of the stuff. It is so good.

Sawyer Swings

This picture makes me laugh every time. There is nothing sweeter than a happy baby...

Floating into Fall

Well, the big news around here is... well, it's nothing much. I guess I kind of like it that way, though. Thanks to Brent's hard work and some fancy flagstone that we scored a few years back, we now have a new patio in our backyard. I guess that's pretty big news.

In case you were wondering, chickens are not very helpful when you are building a new patio.

Sawyer is an eating machine. He's also fond of making really loud screeching noises, so it's nice to have some food around to keep that little mouth occupied.

The three older members of the family snuck out on the boat last weekend to savor that fleeting early fall warm weather. Jack likes to watch his dad fish and he even did a little fishing himself with a toy fishing rod made by Brent. No bites, though. Maybe next time. (Secretly I was relieved- even though Brent does catch and release, that whole hook through the mouth think kind of freaks me out. Not sure how Jack would have reacted either- he may have inherited the Mitchell sensitivity...)

Man, we live in a beautiful place. As we floated along the McKenzie I was kicking myself for not venturing out on the boat sooner. We scouted out some sweet swimming holes for next summer.

Brent is off on a river trip this weekend and I am taking the kids to an orchard harvest party with some pals tomorrow and calling in sick to work on Monday. Woohoo!