Shelburne Farm in Stow, MA

My time this weekend to blog has been minimal, but I don't want to get too far behind (I still haven't blogged about our great trip to the midwest for my cousin's wedding over labor day!). But we got some great sunny photos from our awesome apple picking adventure last week that I wanted to post.

Last Saturday, we headed over to Shelburne Farms, where Finley, Dagny, and I had visited last year on a weekday. (http://findingfinley.blogspot.com/search?q=apple+picking) Boy, what a difference going on the weekend made, the place was hopping! Reminded me how much I love living in New England in the fall! We arrived and sunscreened the kids before heading into the orchard.

We got a "peck" bag and off we went.  Finley got right in there and asked how to get the apples off (since his blueberry picking experience wasn't too helpful here).  With a little twisting guidance, he was filling our bag quickly.

Dagny couldn't get them off the tree on her own, but happily ate the one I handed her.

We wandered farther into the orchard to look for other types of apples.

Our master-picker was awesome!

But he had to take a break to sample his harvest.

We then picked a few peaches and Finley had fun eating one of those, too. I like Dagny's wave here.

Happy to rest her weary legs after all that orchard walking.

Just when we thought, we had finished our picking, we spotted a ladder and Finley was pumped to climb up and get some apples from the upper branches of the tree.

With our peck overflowing with apples and Dagny happily munching on one, we got Finley the "fun pass" for $5 and took him to the first activity which turned out to be a HUGE hit.  Ride-on tractors and pedal bikes! 

To say he was in heaven would be an enormous understatement!

We couldn't tear him away, though we tried after nearly 30 minutes.

But to no avail...he rode on, pretending he was a farmer, delivering hay to his animals and showing his customers where the apple and peach trees were.

Dagny has some fun playing with the smaller tractors.

We finally got Finley to use the rest of his "fun pass" and so he did a hay maze to reach the hay pyramid, which he scaled in no time.

Then, he came back down to join Dagny who was looking at the farm animals.

"Goat, Goat! " she pointed and yelled.

"Can you believe there's a goat right there, Mommy?"

We hopped on the next available hay ride, which took us around the less populated parts of the orchard. Just beautiful!

She was certainly squirmy, but at least she'll pause to smile at the camera if you say "Smile, say cheese."

Then, Finley and Dan headed back to ride the tractors again while Dagny and I checked out the farm store and the jazz band.  I called Dan at some point to drag Finley out so we could have hot dogs, hamburgers, and enjoy the band together before heading home.  However, Finley saw the moon bounce on his way over and since that was included in his "fun pass" - he jumped around for a while after lunch (no, he didn't throw up) before doing three more tractor laps and meeting Dagny and me at the car.

We'd only planned to pick apples and maybe do the hayride, but it turned into an awesome fall adventure that tuckered us all out (perfect for napping purposes).  Perhaps Finley and Dagny will take my parents back there next weekend...

Fun-Loving Finley

As usual, Finley's zest for life is over the top.  He can find fun and joy wherever he looks and it's great to be along for the ride.  Last weekend, we explored a new playground in Westford and after trying the swings, the huge structure, digging in the tire chips, and having a snack - Finley found one more way to enjoy the playground.  Racing on the sidewalk that surrounded the structure with his trusty green shovel as the baton. 

 He was pretty pleased with himself after several laps and it was back to digging before we headed out.

 

Finley's doing really well at his new preschool and while it's taking me longer to adjust to the changes, he's made himself at home.  On Thursday, he was SUPER excited to show me his Jonah and the Whale project.  He told me the story of Jonah ("The whale didn't eat him, mommy, he just kept him safe."), sang me the song they learned, and then asked if he could eat his Jonah.  I was impressed at how much info he had retained about Jonah and said he could, of course, eat his Jonah as long as I could take a few pictures first.

 The preschool director saw us on our way out and I told her how much I liked the Jonah project and she said "If that's the case, you will love Noah in a few weeks!!"

At nearly four (in two months!), Finley continues to grow into his own little dude with likes, dislikes, opinions, endless curiosity, a healthy sense of humor, and boundless energy.  Keep rockin', buddy!