Pickles & Apples

It was a fun weekend for our family, and we squeezed a whole lot into it. So happy that Fall is officially here now ! And I have seen so many houses decorated for Halloween already. Every year people are starting earlier and earlier~~which means I'm not the only crazy Halloween lover in the neighborhood! Thursday and Friday school is closed for the Jewish holidays so I think I'm going for it! Halloween is out as of Thursday! Woo Hoo! Let the fun begin!

Saturday my husband and son left early for a doctor's appointment then went for a hike through Bear Mountain. Three hours of hiking in the beautiful mountains just the two of them and encountering one beautiful image after another including lakes, historic trails and a beautiful place, Bear Mountain Lodge set in the beautiful State Park. My son captured it all on film.
While they were hiking, Caitlin and I and a few others were at the Pickle Festival near our town at that farm where my husband recently did renovation work. I did a whole post on it a couple months back. Wow was it ever crowded! So many people!!!!There sure are lots of pickle lovers on Long Island! I happen to love that little pickle below on the right :) We bought some pickles, went to a barn market, went on a hayride, explored a corn maze and took a ride on the antique train. Oh, and ate more pickles! Pickles on a stick, pickles and peppers, garlic pickles, horseradish pickles, chipotle pickles, a dancing pickle...we saw and sampled it all! And it benefited the Greenlawn/Centerport Historical Society! Hurray!

The next day we were back upstate for our annual apple picking. We've gone to a number of orchards over the years and this year we returned to Maskers in Warwick, NY. We picked a great big bunch. I'm actually making an apple crumb pie today too! So many types were ripe! We got macs, jonagold, delicious, and empire! The trees were just bursting with them!

Caitlin and Billy picked a great big bag full.

 She climbed into the trees to reach the best! I think the jonagolds are my favorites! Oh and Caitlin got an apple painted on her face by the Masker face painters!

But now it's time for us to get down to the business of decorating! Our Halloween sleepover party is Friday night October 24th...there is so much to do! Caitlin has a list of 10 girls to invite. We are making our plans for food and fun. But first it's decorating time! Have a great day!