Fresh-picked apples and ostrich eggs

This past Sunday afternoon we took an outing to Tehachapi to go apple-picking. This just happened to be something on Jessica's and my "Fall Fun-tivity List", so we simply had to go. We all piled into Grandma Net's and Grandpa Randy's (my mother-in-law and her husband) new SUV-- Emma, Annabelle, me, Jeremy, Luke, Jessica, and them-- and drove off into the hills. Once there we were slightly disappointed at the look of the apple farm, as we were expecting it to be slightly more.... well, beautiful. However, apples grow just as well on trees in the middle of dust and dirt as anywhere else apparently, so we picked until we felt we had enough. Emma and Annabelle loved pulling the apples off the branches that were close to the ground, and the rest of us were happy to try to find the good ones that will make yummy apple pies, sauce, and cakes. There is just something so "autumn-ish" about apples, don't you think?

As it turns out, our little apple-picking expedition only took about 15 minutes or so to get all we wanted, so we decided to find something else to do before we made the drive back home. We were able to visit an ostrich farm, which was something completely different. Jessica and I were a bit skeptical, I will admit, but as it turns out it was very fun-- and incredibly informative. We learned a lot about ostriches, and even got to meet a very friendly one named Ralph. They are seriously some of the weirdest animals-- but very cool. Did you know just one ostrich egg is equal to 18-24 chicken eggs?? Now there is an omelet for you.

After a fancy dinner out (Taco Bell, baby :)), we were all pretty pooped, so we piled back into the SUV and headed home, glad to have spent such a nice afternoon together as a family. I've included a few apple-picking pictures (yes, that's right, people: pictures! Look at me, all fancy) below...

We're smiling because we're thinking of all the apple pie...

I am so very happy that it's fall. :)

Annabelle gets a little help from Daddy.

Emma finds the perfect apple.