Applesssssss!

Yesterday Ashton did not nap. Trust me, this is a !!! kind of event. But we chose to see the silver lining and go apple picking - we hopped in the car to South Natick and arrived at Belkin Family Lookout Farm around 4 pm. I had heard such great things about this place in terms of U-pick, animals, fun for kids, etc. It was a beautiful day and despite knowing they closed at 5 pm, I really wanted to take advantage of Jason having a Sunday afternoon off and go for it.

The farm did not disappoint one bit, but I had no idea it would be the most expensive bushel of apples I have ever picked. Now, usually I don't gripe about money but after paying $28 for two adults plus $16 for the bag, I did something I'm not proud of. I lied and said Ashton was under 2. Who does that?! But kids OVER 2 are another $8 and I thought at $44 we had paid quite enough; they were closing in an hour! That indiscretion aside (which I actually felt terrible about, and decided later that giving them another $8 would have totally been worth not feeling that terrible, so I maybe plan to make up for that next time), we had so much fun! The orchards are incredibly expansive, there are a dozen varieties of apples and I could not believe the fruit everywhere. And there was a fun train to ride - it stopped at different areas and you could hop on and off and pick away...

The entire track (and it really was long - at least 1.5 miles) was covered by grape vines, and you could actually reach up and pick those too! They were bunches of concord grapes- I have never had one and they were SO sweet, I like could not stop marveling haha.

Ashton carried our bag in the beginning and got busy filling it with leaves, rocks, and all the overripe rotten fruit littered on the ground that was covered in bugs. It was very hard work.

With a little help from Dad, he learned what to look for and even had a sample or two :)

Due to a mysterious iPhone illness, my battery life was draining like crazy and sooner rather than later, it had died. Sniff. So I didn't get any snaps of the gigantic children's play area (it was a huge field with pony rides, face painting, slides, swings, music, animals (even a camel!), and a picnic zone), our 10 pound bag of fruit loot (haha) or a family photo. But I can tell you that this place is beautiful. We made the most of the hour we had but I definitely want to go back, price and all :) We picked asian pears, several types of apples and if we had had more time, we would have added peaches and plums. Next time! Waiting for the last train to take us back to the main barn...

I love this time of year and can't wait to pick out pumpkins. Now, off to eat my third apple of the day...