Apple Fest

The day started with coffee on the porch as the bald eagle and the osprey tussled slightly for the autumnal fish basking in the lake I like to call mine.  It wasn't until the afternoon that either were very successful, I think.  But the heron was there too as if saying,

"No worries, Rebecca, winter is not quite here and there will be some playing today!"

and with that the rain left.

Picking happened first on Monday with a phone call to Tracey asking if I could take the boys up to the lake after school.  Trent and Kloden, looked up from the snack table at Greene Cares to say, "Aunt Becca, you aren't taking us too!?"

It was then, that I understood minivans, as a mumbled a sorrowful, "Not today guys, my car isn't big enough."  Like there needs to be another reason why they shouldn't appreciate my $500 car.

Thankfully Spencer is not a teenager yet and says only, "Hey! It gets you from point A to point B, doesn't it?"

While Cooper adds, "It is like the cars they use on Mythbusters."

Me: The ones they trash?

C: Exactly!  

Oh boy, we were not prepared to pick! Just two trash bags and waning enthusiasm once the prickers got a little thick and I hadn't bothered to pick up pants (more proof I am not a mom).  It helped once Spencer found a tree big enough to climb and when Grandpa hoodwinked them into trying the best looking crab apple you have ever seen.  I can still hear my dad chuckling at the thought of it.

By Thursday, reinforcements came in the way of crafty problem solvers equipped with an extending tree trimmer tool and a wooden box big enough for the kids to play in. And this time it was Trenton and Kloden's turn.  

It didn't matter that Cole had said, "Now this is a very small press, Rebecca." 

I didn't listen and as my mother would say, happily invited 20 of our closest friends.

The craftsman hit again with a mulcher turned apple grinder that was mighty. The press looking meek did exactly what we needed it to do and was still pressing long after dark with Trenton and Cooper working side by side by themselves with only the aid of glowing kerosine lamps.

*The Mighty MacIntosh- apple grinder- Thank you!