Fall Festival at McKenzie's Farm

That apple cider donut that we had at Apple Harvest was from McKenzie's Farm in Milton, NH and it was so good that we had to go check out their fall festival a few weeks later. We did underestimate how packed it was going to be. What a huge crowd! We're glad we powered through the craziness of parking and walking because it was a lot of fun.

Since October the kids have been getting they're face painted about twice a month with all of the festivals. Both of them are pretty obsessed. 

We went on a hay ride around the orchard. It was a ton of fun and George and Edith were elated. 

These views never get old. New Hampshire truly is a beautiful place all year around.

Apple Harvest Day

Apple Harvest Day in Dover, New Hampshire is another fall tradition that we have. It's a ton of fun but  I highly suggest heading in early if you have little ones. It typically gets a little crazy the longer the day goes on. This year started out super rainy but we loaded everyone up in their rain gear and headed downtown. After a couple of hours in the rain it finally slacked off and we ended up staying a bit longer. Because of the rain there wasn't as many people and it turned out to be the most fun we've had at the festival so far.

We started the day with apple cider donuts. 

Face painting at a friends booth followed by...

...coffee and drying out at Flight Coffee.

The rain finally slowed and we headed back out and down to the Best of Times booth where they were cutting hair. George really likes getting his hair cut and there was no line.

 Little Spider-man getting his hair cut.

 

A little mini petting zoo was a big hit.

And the brand new plow truck complete with a new hard hat. 

Thanks for another great Apple Harvest Festival Dover. We'll see you next year!

Apple Picking

Every year for the last four we've gone apple picking at Butternut Farm in Farmington, NH. The last two years we were joined by our good friends the Heaths but sadly they've moved to NC. On the bright side Nathan had most of his Saturdays off this fall so we were able to all go one Saturday morning. Nathan had never been with us so it was a lot of fun to experience it together.

Usually we pick about 3 bushels so that I can make apple sauce to last most of the year. This year all of my canning supplies were still in storage so we only picked half a bushel for eating and baking. It was still a lot of apples to go through.

Tip: if you're using the apples for apple sauce you can pick "drops" for about half the price. People knock so many off the trees so typically they're just as good as the ones still attached.

This might have been the warmest apple picking experience yet. It's been an unusually warm fall and we are not complaining. January will be here soon enough.

The goats are always a big hit with the kids. 

Warm apple cider donuts after the hard work of apple picking with small children. Yes, please!

Third year getting their picture with the scarecrow. Maybe we can keep it up until they go to college.

And then we tried to get a decent picture with all the children sort-of looking in the right direction.

And since we are now officially staying in New Hampshire we'll be back next year for more apples.

The Last of Fall

Here are the last few pictures from fall before the Christmas/New Years fun began.

Sunday afternoon walk in Portsmouth.

Looking across the river into Maine.

Local donuts the day after Thanksgiving.