Apple picking at Apple Holler

Grandpa Roy and Audrey Anne (who really didn't like that hat). But doesn't she look so cute in it. Cute as a button. Whatever that expression means???
We usually go picking in October but this year we went earlier and the apples were plentiful to say the least. Quite exquisite actually.

Every Fall, we have made it a family tradition (all of 3 years) to go apple picking at this fastly becoming tourist trap on the border of Wisconsin and Illinois. Apple Holler. There is always the same Jamaican dude seeing his regae with his small little amp while people mill around getting their bags to go out into the orchard and collect their loot of any variety of apple they like.

This was Audrey's first out of the womb experience apple picking [for I was pregnant last year when we went]. It was forecasted to storm pretty good. Fortunately I was with the group that were the "quicker apple pickers" and we made it back to the overhang area with the regae singer before the other group got caught in a torrential downpour. Lil' Audrey Anne happened to be in that group. But thanks to Uncle Joel, she was kept dry by the one umbrella they had with them.

The baby backpack proved extremely helpful in toting our "bag of apples". We were smart this year and only picked one bag. Last year we picked three bags and spent a whole evening peeling and coring and making apple pie filling after apple pie filling to freeze. A little overwhelming but worth it when you felt like an apple pie and all you had to do was make the crust and defrost the filling. Not bad, eh? Leave it to my brilliant husband to come up with something like that.