A Trip South...

We didn't go far enough south today to get a taste of warm weather, but we did head south of the cities to pick apples at an orchard and spend some time wandering around St. Olaf, or as Graham calls it "his college" :). The campus really is beautiful in the fall and we make an effort to visit each October. But, before we got to campus, we stopped at an adorable apple orchard. The kids were handed apple slices by the farmers then ushered onto a hayride pulled by a giant tractor that took us directly into the orchard. Amelia was happy to pick apples off the ground and Graham was happy to pull them off the branches. Together, they made a great team!

The kids were VERY mesmerized by a small airplane as passengers boarded the hayride at the orchard. Notice Graham's arm around Amelia? He was concerned that she was "too little" to ride on the wagon and made sure she stayed seated.

A rare picture of Mommy and Amelia

Let the apple picking begin!

Finding the perfect apple...

The basket was apparently very heavy!

Looking for a tree loaded with apples

Happy on Daddy's shoulders

Graham couldn't resist a snack-he was eating apples right off the tree!

After we purchased our massive bag of apples (we didn't have the heart to put any back since the kids worked so hard to select each and every one), and had some delicious apple donuts, we headed down to Northfield. No trip to St. Olaf is complete for us, without having the kids sit in the giant chairs for pictures. In 20 years when we have two kids attending school there :), it will be so fun for us to look back on these chair pictures and see the progression of how they grew up visiting a place that has so much meaning for Jeff and I.

Graham was happy to play in the chair today

Amelia decided she'd rather stand than sit

How sweet is this? They really look deep in conversation as they wandered through one of the gardens...

All tired out and ready for dinner at Hogan Bros!