an Apple Orchard & a Pumpkin Patch

Well, the good news for us about going apple picking earlier in September versus later in September like we normally do, was that we had an awful lot of mighty tasty apples to haul home.  After a couple years of going late in the season and being stuck with a picked over selection (don't ask Steve how he feels about Red Delicious...), we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at Butler's Orchard in MD, with small crowds and a bounty of the yummy fruit. 

The bad news for us... the apple cider donuts had already sold out for the weekend (a strike for going on a Sunday) and apple cider slushies weren't yet in season.  Sigh.  Ugh.  Leading up to our apple picking afternoon, I was most looking forward to a contented ride back home, sipping on my apple cider slushy and munching on some apple cider donuts.  Yeah, we were bummed.

BUT, alas, as I mentioned before with our loot, our family outing to the apple orchard was a success and both girls enjoyed the picking and the eating!!!

 

 

 

The last weekend of September, it was pumpkin picking we went!  We knew there would be plenty of fall festivals we'd visit during the season and all we wanted for this Saturday afternoon was a pick your own patch.  We found just that in the cutest little pumpkin farm in Bowie, MD.  It was an overcast day, practically empty (except for the sweetest family that we met who lived in the area and had three adorable kids who Maelee, of course, instantly became good pals with!), complete with a chicken coop, and friendly grasshoppers.  We will definitely be visiting again!

 

Maelee enjoyed painting one pumpkin that unfortunately has since bit the dust, and because of their short shelf life once carved, we are anxiously waiting until it is time to carve what we have in time for Saturday!  Such a small window of not wanting to carve too soon, but still in time to enjoy before Halloween.  With that ends the official first "fall" post, with several more to come!

Slideshow of more apples and more pumpkins!

Marking a 1st and two 1/2s!

This will be a posed picture heavy post. Not a ton of candids or action shots (although still plenty...) but a few very noteworthy moments from September... 

Starting with Maelee's momentous 1st day of Kindergarten! (And the days leading up to it...)  Then our infamous photo sessions capturing Lilee at 1 1/2 years, and our annual outdoor family photo session to commemorate the girls at their 1/2 yearish mark.  (Slightly over 1 1/2 yrs old for Lilee, slighty under 5 1/2 years old for Maelee...)

We were all very excited for Kindergarten to begin and our little social butterfly couldn't wait for 9/7 to arrive.  Labor Day weekend flew by and included sweet times with family and friends- pizza dinner and pancake breakfast in Old Town with Nana & Pop-Pop, spa treatments and car treatments for daddy & his girls, dinner at our place with Mandy and precious Holland, and an impromptu dinner block party of sorts with the neighbors!

Thankfully, I think Maelee was so worn out from the weekend that she was able to sleep fairly easily the night before the big day!  A little sprinkle of "jitter glitter" under her pillow didn't hurt either.

 Getting daddy's banana & honey morning facial ready!

It's so much more fun to give daddy beauty treatments than mommy apparently...

Fun with dough at dinner in Old Town that night!

 Maelee LOVES getting to see sweet Holland!
So great to have her and her mommy over for dinner.

At the car wash!

 Labor Day breakfast at an Old Town favorite 

followed by beautiful little stroll by the Potomac.

 

Beautiful smiles, beautiful day!

 So happy to celebrate the unofficial end of summer 

with neighbor/friends for a Labor Day bbq!

 Sweet little "jitter glitter" poem to go with the sparkles, prepared by 

Maelee's Kindergarten teacher for the new students the night before the first day :)

And after a good night's rest, the first day arrived!!!

Our little interview :)

 So excited!

Loved having a friend to walk in with.

 And she is still so tickled that her school has her last name :)

After a successful first day of school, it was time to celebrate!  Nana & Pop-Pop couldn't wait to see the big Kindergartner and couldn't resist giving the girls special new "friends."

 First day of school treat of Baskin Robbins ice cream! :)

So proud!

And we were a little late, but we finally got around to our obligatory photo shoot of this little sweetie at (or around...) 18 months old!

We did not even pose her with this one... hilarious!

Sweet pic :) Steve will eventually do something fun with the green screen!

We love how her adorable little personality shows through in these shots.  A lit bit ornery, somewhat of a ham, and oh so sweet.

More of Lilee's 1 1/2 Year Photo Shoot:

And bless my parents' hearts, they graciously tolerated our (especially my) craziness by once again taking on the role of photographer and assistant to help us capture our little fam for our annual outdoor photo shoot.  It was a dreary, somewhat breezy September day, after a week of lots of rain, but Market Square in Old Town with it's reflection pool and fountains made a pretty nice backdrop.  And Pop-Pop's photography skills aren't too shabby either!

Why bother with a professional shoot when we have these two??? :)

More of our Family Photo Shoot:

And thus concludes the first of a few September posts! Let's see if I can get them close to finished before November arrives... :)