Family, Friends and Fall Harvest

To launch the fall season in Minnesota we were greeted by my parents for a long weekend. They came in September to celebrate all of our birthdays (Drew's, Mine, My dad's and mom's) and their 35th anniversary. Its hard to believe they've been married for 35 years. They are now that couple that last to the very end of the anniversary dance at weddings. It's a bit disorienting for me, because if they've been married for 35 years then that means I'm nearly 30. Oh, where does the time go!


While they were here we battled the rainstorms to get out to an apple orchard for a bit of fall fun. We traveled to Stillwater to a local orchard, Aadmott's Apple Farm. At the farm they also have the Stillwater valley vineyards, where some of the vineyards produce wines that have won local awards. We wandered through the orchard, but because of hail damage this season, we weren't able to pick any, instead we purchased apples from inside the ciderhouse. While we were there we did get to visit with the goats and ride along on a few junior John Deere tractors. Overall though, the combination of the weather and the less than exciting orchard the trip was pretty boring, thank goodness Collin had his grandma and grandpa to help entertain him.


Collin hadn't seen my parents in awhile, a few months or so, so we wondered how he would take to them once they arrived, but within a half hour he forgot that Drew and I were even there. He loved spending time with them, and I'm sure they loved seeing Collin's advancing skills as he ran around the house, played with the dog and asked them to read books and play with him favorite toys over and over again.




Just a week or two after my parents were here we met up with Sarah Hendley, Linnea and Isadora from my grad school cohort to take in another apple orchard and pumpkin farm. This time the weather cooperated and we were able to spend a beautiful afternoon playing with Linnea and my friends. We were able to play on the swings and slides, pet the animals in the petting farm and taste some fresh squeezed cider. While we were at the farm, just a few moments after we arrived Drew called to say that he had accidentally locked himself out of the house, in his pajamas no less. Afton was about 35 minutes away, so it wasn't really feasible to go back and open the door for him, so he spent the morning napping on our back porch and visiting with the neighbors until I was able to get home.


After tasting the cider we stopped for lunch in the Afton store and once we had filled ourselves with fresh donuts, bratwurst and cider we found a seat on the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. We rode along and walked through the pumpkin patch until we each found the perfect pumpkin.


Before we knew it, it was nearly nap time. We loved getting to catch up with Sarah, Isadora and Linnea and wished our time could have lasted longer, but with two toddlers we were well aware of the effects of not getting naps on time, so off we went our respective ways, Sarah and Linnea back down to Mankato, Isadora to St Paul, and Collin and I back home to Roseville.