Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Apple (Not) Picking 2015

This year, we went on our annual apple-picking trip as a school field trip instead of with friends on a crowded Saturday. We tried visiting Apple Hill Orchard and Cider Mill, 90 miles away, with about 75 fellow homeschoolers.

The tour--our group being broken into three--included learning how apples are picked, a wagon ride through the orchards, a lesson on the orchard practices, a lesson on honeybees, a tour of the grading room and of the cider-making room, as well as a visit to the refrigerated warehouse.

Each child on the student tour got to select 1/4 peck of apples from a bin of apples picked by the orchard workers. With our family already bringing home 42 apples, I decided we'd skip the effort/fun/work of then picking our own in the orchard. (The kids were disappointed.)







Grading the apples

Learning about bees


After the tour, we ate brown bag lunches on the shaded picnic benches, then our entire group prayed a decade of the rosary in honor of the feast day celebrating the miracle at Fatima 98 years ago. We ate apple cider doughnuts and the kids played in the orchard for a bit before we headed home.

Daddy had to work, so wasn't with us

I told the kids I wanted one family photo of us in the orchard, wearing our fall festive red, but One Little Stinker refused to participate, hiding under the tree instead. I was left wondering if I was supposed to laugh this off as no big deal for a child almost five or whether I was supposed to feel ashamed and disappointed at my lack of parental authority that apparently I can't even get a kid that old to stand in a picture for ten seconds (what torture). And what on earth was I supposed to do? Seriously, I want some very experienced mother of many children to tell me the answer!

The Stinker hiding

The kids were mighty tuckered out on the drive home, on which we completed listening to "A Little Princess."



5 comments:

  1. This sounds VERY similar to our own homeschooler trip to Apple Hill last week...along with a 6yo stinker who didn't want to participate in a family photo!

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  2. I can relate to the little stinker scenario too! I'd love to hear advice on this as well. I believe in choosing my battles - not every battle is worth fighting, but mama must always win ;-) The photo op is probably one I would have let go. Obedience is easier to require at this age in regular routines/situations...

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  3. Sharon, it is helpful for me to hear that you can relate, as you are a parent of high standards and a large family! Choosing the battle is what I chose to do--not choosing this one because we were out and about, off routine, and I had a newborn in arms, rendering me pretty helpless. So, I'm glad to know I'm in good company with you.

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  4. Our kids are generally obedient, good kids. That said, if someone is having "a moment" and they don't want to be in a picture? I take it without them. As the number of children grows keeping them all in the picture, all looking normal, becomes very hard to do!

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  5. I don't mind if they're facing the camera or smiling. I usually just try to get them in the shot. If it hadn't been so much darker under the tree this would have been fine for me. I think it's fun real life memories of when the kid wouldn't smile. :) Or, I have a hissy fit. Depends on the day. AHAHAHAHA

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