This fall we've been spending a lot of time outside enjoying the cooler temperatures.
We took the kids to nearby Underwood Family Farms on several occasions to pet the animals and pick berries, and last weekend we took a longer day trip to Oak Glen, California, about 90 miles east, to pick apples at Willow Brook Farm. (Most of Southern California is too warm to grow apples, but Oak Glen, near Yucaipa, is at a very high elevation and much colder than the surrounding area*; in fact, it had been only 26F there the night before.)
Arthur helpfully indicates where the apples are coming from.
Arthur does a little dance with his apple.
Dev and the kids sort apples to be made into cider.
Apples ready to be pressed
Cider-making
This smaller family farm was friendly, beautiful, and uncrowded even on a holiday weekend; the owner told us the trees were over a 100 years old.
Arthur was mostly enamored of the miniature horse (which he persisted in calling a dog).
Closer to home we've been doing nature scavenger hunts and crafts using pinecones and leaves. And I started a new crop of kale, spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and beets for the winter. But mostly, we've been enjoying the period of calm between Halloween and Christmas, where we have nothing to do but relax and get ready for the holidays.
*It seems I'm raising a Southern California wimp - it was 50F and sunny at the apple farm and Beatrice kept saying she was "freezing" and needed to wear gloves.
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