Fall fun

Today Daddy had the day off of work, so I decided to give the kids a day off of school and go on a field trip.

We headed off the pick apples and have some fall fun at Critz Farms.

We were greeted by this enormous "slide mountain". The kids jumped out of the car and ran immediately to the slides.

Any boy, does it pay to homeschool children....we practically had the whole place to ourselves.

After a quick slide or two, we headed into the apple orchard.
Right now, my favorite variety of apple is the Honeycrisp...and these were absolutely delicious.

Luke, hard at work.

Are you supposed to eat in the orchard, Mark?

Mark and Grace had a plan to reach the tops of the trees.

Ready!

Reach!

Success!! But they could only stay this way long enough to pick one apple.

Daddy and Kimberly

That's quite an apple, Luke.

My scarecrows.

I doubt the crows will be scared.

Luke loved this train.

It was a school day, so we had the place almost to ourselves.

There were also a lot of animals to visit on the farm.

This minature donkey was my favorite.

The rooster kept crowing and crowning...the kids loved it.

Kimmy was a little nervous around the goats, especially after seeing our they behaved when you brought in a handful of food. But after checking Kimberly for goat treats, this one was content with being petted.

I love the whiskers on this goat. Maybe he is the old timer around the farm.

Heading to the pumpkin patch.

Heading home with our pumpkins.

Which way did they go????

I bought everyone a bottle of fresh cider to drink on the way home, and the perfect spot to stop for our drink was at Chittenango Falls.

What a little monkey!

I could only manage to make it a short way down the trail to bottom of the falls, but Daddy and the kids made it the whole way....it's quite a hike!!

They did bring me back this beautiful photo!

Makes My Monday--Chittenango Falls

What "Makes My Monday" this week is the fun family time we had on Sunday.
We visited Chittenango Falls, a local state park, enjoyed a picnic and then walked to the bottom of the falls.

This is the overlook at the top of the 167 foot falls.

A little rest before starting the walk down to the bottom of the falls.

Laura and Daddy, about halfway down.

It is a beautiful spot, but the kids aren't as interested with this side of the bridge,

they wanted to get into Chittenango creek and search for "stuff."

Laura gave the bad example of being the first with her shoes off.

At this point, most of the shoes were still on,

but not for long. Mommy caved, and everyone played in the water.

I love little feet!

Dad stood guard, and no one fell in!

We did have a problem with Kim and Grace's dresses, but Daddy solved this problem. Luckily, they always wear shorts under their dresses.

Nine year old boys

and four year old boys are alot alike.

Daddy threw a last rock and then we had to head for home.

Great Sundays always Make my Monday.