Apple Hill

Since having Knox, I have become obsessed with finding child friendly things for my family to do on the weekends. My husband works long hours during the week, so the weekends are very special to us, and I want to make the most out of them.

 I have to hand it to Northern California, it has yet to disappoint me in the "fun for the whole family" department. I can go to the Sacramento Magazines website and find 30 things to do in one weekend. What's even better is that as soon as fall hits North Cal, the activities increase in numbers. Can you imagine a better time to be outdoors than in Northern California in the fall? The weather  here is amazing! (I'm sure that you are sick of me bragging about how beautiful the scenery/weather is)

This past weekend, I happen to stumble onto the "Apple Hill Growers Association" website.  After 2 seconds of reading this website I was hurrying to get us all ready and out the door. 

For anyone who hasn't heard of Apple Hill, let me share some boring facts with you. Apple Hill is located in the Sierra Mountain foothills in El Dorado County, California, and consists of 55 ranches that offer a wide vary of things to do. You can pick apples, pumpkins, and blackberries! All of that sounds exciting to me because I had never done any of those things. If none of that sounds exciting to you, these farms do offer my second favorite activity....EATING!!! You can purchase the most delicious pies, cakes, BBQ, cider, homemade apple cider vinegar, and even wine!

By the time we had pulled into the first farm, I was completely captivated by how beautiful everything was. All the leaves on the trees were changing fiery reds and golden yellows. Every where I looked there were bright red barns and cute little apple trees. 

The first farm that we came across was the "Larsen Apple Barn"

My fist attempt to take a picture with Knox...

They have the most amazing delicious treats in that bake shop. I bought a frozen apple pie to take home and bake for Thanksgiving. 

Knox had some of their apple cake with caramel sauce...he enjoyed it...and so did I =)

My second attempt to take a picture with Knox...

"Apple Ridge Farms" was the second place we visited. Here we ate BBQ and Knox got a chance to pet some farm animals...Oh!...and I bought the most delicious pumpkin pie ever. 

It shouldn't have surprised me that Knox wasn't afraid of any of the farm animals. He went right up to them and started feeding the goats and sheep out of his hands.  

Mark...being Mark.....

Then Knox went through the hay maze and did an amazing good job at finding his way out. 

We decided to visit one last farm before we left. I am not sure what this farms name was.

But it had an amazing view...

At least he obeys the signs...cause he doesn't listen to me...

We had a fantastic day! We will definitely be visiting Apple Hill again to pick some blackberries =)

Does your kid do weird things too?

A couple days ago, I was vacuuming the baseboards in the living room, when I realized that Knox was standing next to the vacuum spinning in a circle. He's always been interested in the vacuum (well, he's interested in EVERY cleaning device around the house), but I didn't put the two together (vacuum on = spinning in circles) until I turned the vacuum off...and he stopped spinning. Not thinking much of it, I moved on to another side of the room (he followed me of course) turned the vacuum on, and he started spinning again. 

I took three videos of him spinning to the vacuum cleaner. I put the last video up on Facebook. Since some of my family doesn't have Facebook, I thought I would out all three of them up in my blog. 

Enjoy Knox doing what he does best...being his silly self =)

What is it like living with a baby tiger?

What is it like living with a baby tiger?  Well, its not easy, I'll tell you that much. 

They are temperamental, they bite (mine bit me twice the other day...gotta love all those new teeth coming in *sarcasm*), they make huge messes, and they eat A LOT...of Cheerios. 

But lets face it...they are irresistibly cute =)

Today, I decided to document what it is like living with a baby tiger

Grrrrrrr! Paws up! In this picture, he is taking an aggressive stance...

Here are some pictures of him interacting with the other animals in "the pack"...

As you can see from the look on his face, baby tigers DO NOT like to be bothered when eating...

Their main source of food?...Cheerios...of course...

But they prefer to eat them off the floor 

The Cheerio crawl...

Engaging in some self grooming (nose picking...ew)

Obviously they are easily distracted by the combination of cheerios and the bright colored movements of Yo Gabba Gabba...

But he has now caught us watching him!!! OH NO!!!

Irritated by the fact that we were invading his personal space, I feel that it is much safer to continue documenting this animal behind some protective bars. 

The baby tiger...an adorable and entertaining creature...but secretly a dangerous animal.