Our fall season started Labor Day weekend with a spontaneous Sunday spent at our favorite apple orchard just outside Iowa City. Wilson's Apple Orchard has created the prettiest backdrop for all our apple picking adventures since Mila could barely sit up and it's one of my favorite ways to spend a fall day. And while all the bouncy houses, tube slides, and pumpkin chuckin' cannons are fun from time to time, I'd take this place any day of the week. Just nothing but rolling hills of weeping willow trees and pumpkin vines spread across acres and acres of untamed apple trees. We packed a picnic this year and enjoyed our first every Honeycrisp weekend, where the trees were stocked to the brim with our favorite crispy fall fruit.
We waited in line forever for our favorite apple slushies and donuts, then made the big trek to pick apples and play hide and seek in the trees. We've had years where we've been late and had a hard time finding plentiful trees. We've had years where we've arrived just before sunset and we were rushed for time. We've had years where it was humid hot and years where it was blustery cold. But this year, it was dang near perfect. We picked enough apples for a delicious pie and then spent the rest of the afternoon at Big Grove with Rob, Jill, and sweet Olivia. And decided THIS was just about as good as it gets for a September Sunday together.
Pictures from our first of what I hope are many fall adventures...
