Our family just loves autumn...but really, who doesn't? We don't get near the beautiful changes in color of trees here in Texas but it's still a beautiful time of year. We also love the idea of picking our own fruits and veggies. Unfortunately we don't have our own apple tree or pumpkin patch. I tried pumpkins many years. We just don't have the space to give them adequate care. We have picked our own apples when we visited friends in Washington and that was incredible. There's not any farms to visit around here that I know of. Peaches in the summer, but no apples in the fall for the public.
So this month, my kids expressed a great desire to pick apples. I was really wanting to make their requests possible, but knew the only place we they could "pick" their own apples was at HEB and right off the shelf. But I wanted them to have a fun fall apple experience and thought about how we could have fun with apples. And it came to me. The kids know that we pretend Santa is real. We write pretend letters, we pretend that we are preparing for his visit, we leave out real cookies for the pretend Santa....so why not pick apples off of a "pretend" apple tree?
We have a Live Oak in the front yard and a Crepe Myrtle in the backyard. Good enough for me. So here is what I did.
I bought some nice looking apples that I "picked" myself at HEB and wrapped them individually so they would stay clean.
Looks okay, right? Pay no attention to that sticker.
I placed them in the tree so that they would stay secure.
And put a few low enough for Adelyn to reach. They were pretty low when we picked real apples in Washington.
I then told them we were going apple picking, handed them bags, and led them out the front door and on a "hike" around our front yard to the backyard "orchard." As soon as we got in sight of the tree they sprinted to start their picking.
They both loved it. My 4 AND 7 yr old. They knew it was pretend, but pretending is fun!
Look at my apples!
Good thing I washed them before wrapping! Someone couldn't wait to chow down.
If we don't have access to the real thing, that is okay. We can still have provide great experiences in our own homes and backyards. Imagination is fun, fosters creativity and path to further invention, and it gives hope.
Here is the rest of our story.
Washing her apples!
Washing his apples!
Preparation for pie. Apple tower. 3 apples up on top!
Peeling apples for our apple pie!
Pie before baking in the oven (with our neighbor friend).
They helped with the lattice work. Now it just needs to cook!
It's done! We love pie. That was fun!
