A Fall Season Leisure Activity for a Military Family

As we get started back into a fall routine with school and jobs we sometimes look for things to do in the nice fall weather. Finding leisure time activities for the family on the weekend can be quite the adventure for a military family in a new area! It may be a bit cooler and the beach or pool are not as inviting unless you are living in a very southern climate. As a military family it was always interesting to invade a new area and see what surprises they had for us.

A great time for us in our newest location is apple picking! We have several orchards nearby that allow you to bring a bag and pick your own! Last weekend I took some of our grandkids (with their parents as tag a longs) and we had a great time. They enjoyed the apples right from the trees and putting them into Grandpa’s, Dad’s and Mom’s bags happened occasionally as well! Also, the apples on the ground got kicked and thrown around a bit and laughs were loud and boisterous. We had fun sampling varieties and choosing the one we wanted. We loved the Honey Crisp apples and so we filled several bags and then took them to the orchard market to be weighed (by the way the cost was less than 1/4 of what local stores were charging for the same apples).

After gorging ourselves on the wonderful apples we headed home and saved some for another day! Two days later Jessica brought down a delicious apple crisp she made from a family recipe! Yummmmm!

One of the fun parts of this particular orchard is talking to the elderly couple (he is a WW2 vet) that started the orchard many years ago but try to stay involved even though they have handed off day to day activities to someone else. They have a golf cart and showed us where to pick and had smiles for all despite illness and infirmities that made it hard to walk and harvest their crop. They enjoyed questions about the apples and themselves and they loved to see the young kids playing and picking. Sometimes its just good to talk to someone–I know they enjoyed it!

So if you are ever near Hastings, Michigan stop in at Cotant’s Farm Market and pick a few apples of your own or find an orchard near you that allows guests!byColonel KonThursday, September 25, 2008Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to FacebookShare to PinterestMilitary Life:apples,Col K,military family