Parades, Parties, and Picking Apples

We had another busy, but very fun weekend. Shannon, Mike, and Libby arrived pretty late on Friday night so we visited for a few minutes and then headed off to bed. This past weekend was Glenbard West's homecoming so we thought it would be fun to take Ethan and Libby to see the parade Saturday morning. Since this is our first year in Glen Ellyn, we had no idea what the parade would be like. Well, it wasn't what we expected at all, lasting just 14 minutes, but there was plenty of candy to be had!


After lunch, we put Ethan and Libby down and Shannon and I drove over to see the Glynn's. Kasey is ever changing and has grown so much in the two weeks since I saw her last. You really forget how much babies change daily; she is such a doll. We had a nice time just sitting and catching up with Heather....something I feel like the 3 of us have not done in forever. I think all the boys, both at the Glynn's and our house had the chance to rest a bit.

We headed home to freshen up a little bit and then made our way over to the Gibson's to celebrate Anna's 2nd birthday. It was such a gorgeous afternoon for a birthday party and we had a great time seeing the Gibson's new house, meeting the Cranley twins for the first time, watching all the kids run around, and eating some great food. Oh, how I love the thumbprint cookies Claudia and Mike always bring from Peoria. In the hustle and bustle of getting out of the house, I forgot our camera, but Matt's mom, Claudia, captured a pretty funny picture of the kids after the party started to wind down.

We were sad to see the Barron's leave on Sunday, but excited about what we had planned for the day. Matt stayed behind to study, but Ethan and I drove up north to Crystal Lake to meet my mom, dad, and sister so we could go pick apples at Oriole Springs in Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. I have not been apple picking in several years and I couldn't wait to introduce Ethan to one of my favorite fall activities.

Ethan had the best time running around the orchard, grabbing apples, and taking big bites. This was his first experience with whole apples and he did a great job and seemed to love them. I think we might have a new favorite food!

Our main objective while we were there was to pick Golden Delicious apples, but we did also pick up some Jonathan's and McIntosh. I have full intention of using some of the apples to try my hand at my Grandma Betty's infamous apple pie. I am pretty sure I will not be able to make a pie nearly as delicious, but I am going to give it a try. We also bought some yummy donuts, apple cider and a cider shake!

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip:

I am sorry that Matt had to miss Ethan's first trip to the apple orchard, but we had a great day nonetheless. The weather was absolutely perfect and it was fun to see Ethan really enjoy himself and all the fresh fall air. I am looking forward to making apple picking a fall tradition for our family, it truly is the beginning of changing leaves and crisp air.