A Fall Day on the Farm

I truly love fall.  It is my absolute favorite season.  My children have inherited that love and together we celebrate 31 days of Halloween as soon as October rolls around.  This past Friday, the kids and I loaded up into the swagger wagon and then picked up my friend, Colleen, and her two little ones, and then headed to Sedro-Woolley to Jones Creek Farms.

The goal was to be like Caillou and do a little apple picking.  Believe it or not, there does not seem to be a lot of farms in Western Washington that offer u-pick apples.  It was a long, but really beautiful drive.  On every adventure I take there always seems to be a little drama and this trip was no exception.  About 15 miles from our destination a light came on my dashboard.  Further investigation revealed it meant something was wrong with my tire pressure. The swagger wagon has drive flat tires so I tried not to worry.  As soon as I got out of the car I could hear one of my tires rapidly losing pressure.  For some reason I managed to remain calm and decided that the best thing to do was to just have some fun on the farm.

We were the only visitors at the farm the whole morning which was awesome.  The kids immediately found the little tractors, and further exploration revealed a tire swing and teeter totter.

We headed into the orchards, which were conveniently located very close to the farmhouse.

experiencing the satisfaction of hard work

even baby Vivian got in on the action

Ari and Linus sampling some apples.  The apples were incredible.

After picking three bags of apples, we headed back to the farm house where we enjoyed FREE hot apple cider.  I was especially proud of Eileen who has yet to master cup skills, but didn't spill at all.

Since it was a gorgeous day and we had the farm all to ourselves, we decided to stay a little longer and soak it all in.  The owner and his family were really wonderful.  They invited the kids to help feed the chickens.

Eileen found a nice patch of grass and went for a roll.

The kids played hard.  Eileen fell in love with one of the dogs on the farm and followed it around.  She kept trying to lick its nose.  She eventually just laid down beside it.  When the dog moved away, she tried sneaking in closer.

I love the simple living of farm life.  It was such a beautiful day.  However, I hate hate hate yard work and I am incredibly uncomfortable around animals.  Therefore, I think I would make a lousy farmer.  Maybe one of these days, we will take a "vacation" to a farm.

Before we left, Eileen insisted on getting her own turn on the tire swing.

As I mentioned earlier, the drama with the car.  When we got back to the car, the owner of the farm checked our tire pressure in the tire that was losing air.  Turns out it no longer had any pressure.  He then kindly when and got some air, refilled my tire, and gave me directions to Les Schwab.  I cannot say enough good things about Jones Creek Farms.  They are apparently having a little festival in two weeks, complete with haunted house.  We may just have to go back...

Les Schwab was great.  They found a screw in the tire, quickly patched it for free, and then sent us on our way.  I had visions of making apple pies and apple crisp and apple breakfast bars with all my apples.  Linus informed me we were making apple muffins and would not hear of anything else.  I'm so glad I listened to him.  I found the most amazing recipe for applesauce muffins.  We can't stop eating them.  The kids have been munching on the apples, but I think I'll still have enough for a crisp and the apple breakfast bars.

Applesauce Muffin Recipe (from Taste of Home)

24 ServingsPrep: 10 min. Bake: 25 min.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups applesauce
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, optional
• Cinnamon-sugar, optional

Directions

• In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well.
• Stir in applesauce. Combine the flour, baking soda and spices; stir
• into creamed mixture. Fold in nuts.
• Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at
• 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Sprinkle
• with cinnamon-sugar if desired. Yield: about 2 dozen. (we ended up with 2 dozen regular size muffins, plus another 12 mini muffins)

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 223 calories