The first apple that Elias picked. It required a bit more force than he thought, but he loved it!
Yesterday we took advantage of our good fortune with the nice weather and decided to go apple picking. Last year, we discovered the Hood River Fruit Loop, and Mountain View Orchards (one of the stops on the fruit loop). We loved it enough that we wanted to go back.
This year was different because Elias was able to walk well, and he was able to actually pick some apples. We had a bit of trouble getting him to be gentle enough when setting the picked apples in our wagon. We ended up with a few bruises before he got the hang of “gentle” even though he said it every time he set one in the box.
Elias helping Daddy pull our wagon.
I think Elias would have picked hundreds of apples if we would have let him. He loved it! He was excited and kept saying, “red apples, green apples” and “apple picking.” We also walked by a few pear trees, and he wanted to pick those. We let him pick two of them, but we mostly went for the apples.
For some of the trees we had to lift Elias up so that he could pick the apples, but on others, there were good apples close enough to the ground that he could just reach up and pick them himself.
Elias finds one right at his level!
After buying all of our apples, we went on the free hayride that they offer. Elias excitedly said, “hayride” even as dust was clogging our eyes. We got to see about a quarter of the orchard, and we stopped to feed the animals. Elias was excited to see a “horsey” a “goat” and a “moo-cow” (Texas Long Horn) as well as some alpacas.
Elias and Daddy getting ready for the hay ride
After the hayride, we ate a picnic lunch in the sun, enjoyed the view of Mt. Hood, and then drove home for a nice Saturday evening at home. Have some fall fun…mission accomplished!
Elias and Daddy playing amongst the trees
Elias bends down low to avoid low branches, and searches for apples!