An Apple a Day...

I had a GREAT time apple picking in Mexico, NY with my family yesterday! We decided to meet at Behling's Orchard around 11:00am. The drive up was beautiful-- the sun was shining through the trees and the bright oranges, yellows and reds of the leaves stuck out against a clear blue sky. It was about 45-50 degrees, perfect sweater weather and perfect for apple picking!

I arrived at Behling's before my family, so I decided to walk around for a bit. Walking into the main store brought back so many memories. The smell of Fall was in the air-- maple syrup, apples, cinnamon, pumpkins-- it reminded me of visiting the Behling's in Adams, NY as a child. Every year, my Aunt Linda and Uncle Den would take my cousins and me there, and my cousin Christopher would drag me into the haunted house. And, without fail, he would hide somewhere in their house later that night and scare the @!&%!#@ out of me (thanks, Chris)! I also thought of my Grandpa. I knew that I would. This is the same orchard that the ENTIRE Fortunato family went to for apple picking when I was younger. We still have pictures of several family members on ladders reaching into the tree for apples. Those are the memories I savor from my childhood-- the ones that look like a Hallmark commercial in my head. :)

My brother and sister arrived with their kids and we walked around Behling's together. My first thought??? EXPENSIVE! They were charging for everything from a walk through the corn maze to a ride on the hay wagon. I can't imagine raising a family in an economy that is so money starved it has to charge kids to walk through a corn maze. :( Anyways, we headed across the street to the orchard where we got our bags and then the apple picking began! There was a lot of laughter and silliness (another one of those Hallmark commercial memories) and even some booty shaking from Aunt Kristy and Uncle Tim. :) It was even fun when my niece, Jayna, threw an apple, not noticing me on the other side of the tree. Yeah, that's gonna leave a mark! ;) I filled my bag with a mere 7 pounds of apples but my sister and her boys were the winners with 45 POUNDS of apples!

I couldn't leave without eating funnel cake with powdered sugar (which, it turns out, did not have nearly as many calories as I thought it did). By the way-- have you noticed how many things on my list involve FOOD?? ;)

We ended our day with Jayna and Hunter taking pony/horse rides, and then Aunt Tina bought Hunter a HUGE box of popcorn. He was happy! We definitely want to go apple picking again next year. Actually, Tina mentioned strawberry picking. I'm in!