Quite a day

We had a very busy but good day today. It started with the boys and I taking Hallie to Punkinseed (her preschool) at 8:30 AM. Then the boys and I came home and started on their schoolwork until we went back to pick her up at 10:30. Then it was back home to finish up their school work until lunchtime. We had lunch at home with Daddy and then it was off to swimming lessons for the boys at 1:15 to 1:45. The kids and I came back home so they could change and then it was off to Albany for me to get my allergy shot. After getting that taken care of we made our way home. I wanted to stop and see about getting some apples at a apple orchard on our way home. I saw the prices and I think it was 65 cents a pound for the picked apples or 35 cents a pound for U-Pick. I was tempted to just buy the picked ones and make my way home, but I've been wanting to take the kids apple picking all fall and just never found a good time for us to all go as a family...the 6 of us. So, I decided today was the day for me to take the kids. It was unplanned and I didn't have my camera but I took some 'after' pictures. The five of us picked 43 pounds of apples. The kids absolutely LOVED it!!

My parents had given us some apples earlier this fall and some friends of ours had given us some too and I made applesauce and then dried alot for snacks. My food dryer only had 4 trays on it and it takes a good 4 hours at least to dry the apples and I'd get the four trays done and the kids would eat 2 trays in one sitting so there wasn't much to store. So, I've been wanting to make more to freeze. I decided to buy more trays so I could get more done so now I have 12 trays on my food dryer and it's going to be so much nicer to get to dry so much at one time. So, I've got my first batch drying right now and I've got alot left to go but am looking forward to having a good snack ready for the kids.

This week they asked if I'd dry them some bananas so they could see if they liked them. So, I did. I had enough bananas to fill two trays and the kids ate them all in no time. They were a hit too. I'm glad to know they like them and will make some more when I'm done with all these apples.