Mother/Daughter Day at Paulus Orchard

Every once in a while, I plan to spend a day with each child.  One-on-One.  I had the chance to take Allyson on our first Mother/Daughter Day while the Husband stayed home with Cooper and watched football all day.  When I told Ally she and I were going to go somewhere, she asked if Cooper would need a nap before we went.  This made me a little sad.  My little girl is growing up way too fast, worrying about our normal routine, and if her brother is taken care of.  So, when I told her that Cooper was going to nap while we were gone, she got super excited!  You would have thought the little 20 minute trip to the Paulus Apple Orchard took 2 hours the way she was bouncing around, of course asking "Are we there YET?!"

The orchard we decided on can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/PaulusOrchards.  

Much to Ally's surprise, there was a HUGE play area for her to run and have fun.  Fun for her... Just her!  Of course there were tons of other kids. Kids with their parents, kids with their siblings, and even a birthday party or 2 going on.  Normally I would have watched her stand on the sidelines and just watch the other kids.  She'd gingerly climb the ladder for the slide, and then hesitate before going down.  Not anymore, Ladies and Gentleman!  My little girl was out there!  She wasn't afraid of anything or anyone in front of her!  She went down a slide bigger than I personally have ever gone down! She climbed inside a wooden structure, only to slide down another slide! She explored in this fun blown up tube!  She also was brave and rode in this cow while a tractor pulled all of it's cow friends around the play area!

After an hour of running, sliding, jumping and riding she decided she was ready for Apple Picking!  This part was my favorite.  I'd never been Apple Picking before.  The little girl inside me was jumping up and down too!  We grabbed the bag we purchased and headed for the apple trees!  The apples advertised to be available for picking were Red Delicious and Golden Delicious.  To my surprise, Jonathon Apples were ready as well!  

We had a blast!  Picking the best apples for us, reaching as high as we could to get the biggest ones! The biggest ones are the sweetest, right? *wink, wink*  We discussed what we should do with all of these delicious apples while picking them.  Allyson said we were going to eat them all before we got home.  I told her we should save some for Apple Butter!  YUMMM!   Eventually the taller grass started tickling Ally's legs, so I had to carry her a bit, but that was a small price to pay for the smiles on her face.  

A nice Wagon Ride ended our time at the Paulus Orchard.  I think next time we'll bring the boys along, but I loved spending time with my little girl!