Thursday, October 14, 2010

A Very Good Apple Picking Day

Dova rarely gets sick, so when she was sent home from school right before her first field trip of first grade, she was devastated.  It turned out that she really wasn't sick after all, but when you throw up on your desk at school, back home you go.  She was so sad, she wrote these notes to Doug at home while he was working in the garage:

"Today I am sad.  very very sad.  I had a bad bad day.  I had a very very very very very very very very very very very very very bad bad bad bad day."

I was immediately struck by the way she drew her dotted lines on the paper before writing everything out in pen.  And I was equally impressed by the way she expressed herself, although a with a bit much hyperbole.

The field trip was for apple picking last Thursday, so she made her wishes clear to skip school the next day and go apple picking instead.

"Tommorow I want to go apple picking.  tommorow I am not going to school.  I am going apple picking. at Kimball's farm."

I asked Doug whether he helped her with the spelling of Kimball's farm, apostrophe and all. Nope, she did it all on her own. With the exception of misspelling tomorrow (which even adults do), her writing is outstanding.

"can you take me please if your not I am not going to go to school I will stay home."

OK, now she is getting unreasonable.  But still, we wanted to make it up to her for missing the field trip and doing such an excellent job of writing these notes.  She went to school the next day, and on Saturday, we took her out for a glorious day of apple picking at Kimball's Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA.

Fruit Farm Stand

We were really glad to go this quiet farm this year. Last year, we went to Parlee Farms in Tyngsboro, MA and it was a madhouse. Sure, they have hay rides, a huge pumpkin patch, fall flowers and a hay maze, but if all you want is picturesque apple picking, Kimball's is the place to go.  The apples are extremely reasonable as well. Where else can you get Honey Crisp apples for $1 a pound?

Picking apples

It was a beautiful autumn day for apple picking. And running in the sun.

Running in the sun

Check out the expansive vistas.

Kimball's Fruit Farm Vista

The happy Dad...

Happy Dad

...and Mom.

IMG_6152

The pumpkins glowed in the late afternoon sun.

Pumpkins in the sun

Kimball's Sign and pumpkins

Of course no outing with our family is complete without the kids finding some wall to jump off.

Dova jumping

Adam jumping

I guess it turned out to be a very good apple picking day after all.

4 comments :

Asianmommy said...

How fun! We wanted to go apple picking this year, but I've been told that all the apples are gone by now. :(

Anonymous said...

What a lovely day for apple picking! I ebjoy readubg your posting and Dova's handwritings. It is like being with you in the apple farm.

hair clips said...

Seems like Dova had lots of fun on your apple picking trip. I wish that my family could also go through a trip like that. Anyway, thanks for sharing your stunning pictures. :)

Poker Lessons said...

What a beautiful kid...and awesome notes. Seems like I learned to write notes like 'I promise to be quiet in class. I promise to be quiet in class. I promise to be quiet in class X1000000" :(

I want to go applepicking, I will write a note tomorrow!

John