Friends, birthdays & apples!

This is the time of year that is my favorite. The weather is great, the jeans come out with the sweatshirts and the apples are ready to eat.

One of my favorite places to go this time of year is the apple orchard in Fort Dodge, IA. I have searched high and even in the lower parts of MN (Ok...I have only searched as high as Zumbrota) and nothing compares to the apple orchard back home. I can truly say that I was a little bit depressed when I went to my first apple orchard here and the only thing that they had to purchase (besides apples) was nachos and cotton candy. NACHOS & COTTON CANDY! What part of "apple" is in those words? I expect to see apple pie, apple dumplings, apple cider, caramal apples, etc.

This past weekend I went home and got to visit this special place. I bought the apples, I ate the dumplings and even a few turnovers (all made by scratch, btw) :) Mmmmmm.

We also went home to celebrate some birthdays with the Schild clan. I do call it a clan because you definately know when our group is around or celebrating. 2 parents, 4 kids living at home, 1 kid not living at home, 1 kid with their child and significant other, 1 kid with spouse and their 2 kids, grandpa, mom's friend who really is just a part of our family, married brothers mother and father in law...did I miss anyone? (oh...and that isn't even everyone)

My mom turned 60, my niece turned 4, Quinn was turning 4, Sid was turning 10 and Julie was 20 the day that we celebrated.

My friends and I from high school also planned to get together for our annual gathering. We have been trying to do this the last few years and we have missed a few but did come up with a crazy idea to run in a 5k together. Some are still a bit on the sore side, some ran the whole way, others walked and ran and some cheered us on. We had a great time though and are planning on doing it again and maybe even another one in the spring.

The best part though is that Sid also wanted to do the 5k. I think she was really tired but she also had a lot of fun. This was a big accomplishment for her and she wasn't too far behind me. The picture is of me, my sister, Josie, my mom and Sid.

Great weekend! Now...back to laundry.