Apple Picking at Honey Pot

Every year, Kevin and I take our niece Holly and nephew Brady to Honey Pot Orchard in Stow, MA to go apple picking. We picked them up around 10am Saturday morning hoping to avoid too much of the crowd. After parking we headed to get our apple bags and tickets for the hay ride that loops around some of the grounds and through the orchards. We hopped off at the McIntosh section because those were the ripest apples that weekend. A lot of the Mac's were small and low to the ground - perfect for little kids who want to pick their own. Of course, Kev picked them both up to fetch shiny red and green ones from the tippy tops of the trees which they thought was so fun! The kids had fun picking their "eating" apple which we let them have while picking the ones they'd take home. After our bags were full, we continued on the hay ride to the General Store where you can buy carmel apples, cider donuts and pies. We picked up a half dozen donuts, three carmel apples (one with nuts for Kev) and a bottle of cider for B&H to share. We sat in the grassy picnic area for our snack then went to look at the goats and pigs before venturing over to the mini pumpkin patch so they could each pick out a pumpkin. They also picked one out to bring home to Ryan. After finding their "perfect" pumpkin we were on a mission to find Honey Pot Bear (see below) who roams around the grounds taking pictures with all of the kids. Our day definitely would not have been complete without seeing him. Last year, we found him on the way to the car and that was the highlight of their day - not the apples, donuts or farm animals, but Honey Pot Bear. :0 )

I already can't wait for next year, Mr. Ryan will most likely be joining us which will be fun! Here are some pictures of our day! I uploaded them sort of out of order but you get the idea..

(Times "apple" is used in this post = 7)

PS I made yummy apple turnovers with the ones Kev and I picked, deeelish.... count is up to 8 now...

Holly and Stacie

Brady, Holly and Honey Pot Bear

Kevin, Brady and Holly on the hay ride

Out in the orchards picking apples...

The scarecrow that was holding this sign sorta freaked them out :)

I Love Fall!

I can't even tell you how excited I am to finally have Fall here!! So far, we haven't had too much "Fall Like" weather as it's been unseasonally warm (like in the 70's) since the end of September but I know those chilly days and nights are just around the corner. Fall in New England means October baseball, pumpkin lattes, cozy sweaters and my two favorite activites...... Apple picking and Leaf Peeping! Leaf peeping simply means watching the leaves turn from green to red, orange and yellow. I'm convinced there's no better place to "peep" than New England! Kevin and I live at the base of hill that has trails that we like to walk up with Tucker and Peanut. At the top is a lookout point called "Boston Rock" because on a clear day you can see all of Boston. Here are a few pictures I took the other day.

View of Boston at Sunset...

Bentley College (Kevin's Alma Mater (thanks Shel)

This picture makes me laugh!

LOL, I took this picture last Friday when Ryan was having a meltdown and Kev was trying to make him laugh by making funny faces (like this one). It worked, but of course I didn't capture it. They still look like twins to me, minus Ry's curls which are so darling!!! Ryan is almost 16 months now, he's not so much a baby but a little boy now!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the new dad, Travis! Welcome to Oldville I hope you had a super day!

New Pictures of Brady, Holly, Ryan and Eliza!

Here are some new pictures of Brady, Holly, Ryan and Eliza (our nieces and nephews) taken last Friday night. It had been a while since we've all gotten together so it was nice to catch up and play with the kiddos. Brady started kindergarden and is getting soo tall, Holly started pre-school , ballet class and her her tippy toe twirls for us, Ryan is a little (cute) monster, he's into everything and looooooves eating! :) and Eliza is 4 months; she's so darling! She coos a lot and rolled over about two weeks ago. I can't believe how big she's getting!
Enjoy! I'm still working on our California trip pix!

Eliza Mae

Brady Andrew

Holly Elizabeth

Ryan Alexander

Payton is here!!!

Okay, so I JUST posted that last entry like two minutes ago and now baby Payton has arrived!!! Congrats to Katie and Travis and their new little guy - we're sooooo happy for you!!! Isn't Payton darling!!?!

Baby Payton is coming!!!

One of my best friends Katie and her husband, Travis left for the hospital at 4am west coast time to have their baby boy, Payton Andrew Kalamakis!!! I don't have any details except that she was 4cm dialated yesterday and having contractions every 5 minutes for 45 minutes. They wouldn't admit her until they lasted at least an hour, sounds like she progressed quickly!! He's ready to make his entrance (one day early) and Kev and I couldn't be more excited for Fitz and Trav. Payton is lucky to have such wonderful people as parents!!

More details and of course pictures to come!!!! (Gosh, I could cry I'm so excited!!!)