Apple Picking!

A few weekends ago we drove out to the country (well, not too country, the metra line does go there!) for some apple picking! We even convinced Tito Dong to come with us. He is wonderful with our kiddos and they adore him (and not just because he has been known to arrive at our house bearing McDonald's pancakes!).

Emie enjoyed toddling around the orchard and found some of our best Fuji apples.

Nathan enjoyed chomping into several apples, but wanted me to gnaw the skin off for him. Definitely a little too much fiber for me that day!

They're just better fresh off the tree!

We are pretty sure that Emie gnawed her way through at least 3 apples. Pretty good for only having 5 teeth!

Both kiddos enjoyed playing on all of the tractors they had on display.

We brought home quite the haul of apples and quickly turned them in to applesauce, apple butter and apple crisp. Yum!

Boys weekend!

Over the Labor Day weekend, Nathan and Gus headed off to Florida to visit Gus' brother and his family. Looks like someone enjoyed the plane ride . . .

Seeing airplanes up close is pretty exciting for a 2 year old boy!

Nathan had fun playing with his Kuya Josh's guitar.

He saw the ocean for the first time!

And seems to have brought his standard toddler grin with him.

He enjoyed telling me about the salty water and squishy sand.

After the ocean trip, they went to this place called Wannado City. Each kiddo can choose a job and then earn money to spend in the city.

Nathan chose to be a surgeon. Not a surprise as he is quite a fan of our pediatrician! Oh, and the fireman station was too long of a wait . . .

What does a two year old choose to spend his money on? Why carousel rides of course! He also rode a little train and an airplane ride where sock monkey got to be his co-pilot.

Yes, Daddy dressed him. Looks like fun!

Emie and I spent the weekend fighting off colds :( But we did manage to have some quality girl time. We did some shopping and went out to eat with friends. It was actually really relaxing only having 1 kiddo to watch for the weekend. But we sure missed our boys!

I'm gonna make a recipe, I just can't wait to start!

Anybody know and love Psalty? This is the song the kids and I sing whenever we cook together! It just makes cooking with kids so much more fun when you sing and dance as well :)

Sadly, my laptop computer took a little spill at the hands of my 1 year old and I won't be able to load pictures here for a little while. So, I decided to post a yummy recipe instead!

Here is a recipe for Golden Pumpkin Rolls:

Ingredients

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 cup warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup canned or cooked pumpkin
• 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Sprinkle with sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add milk, brown sugar, pumpkin, butter, salt, spices and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into 24 pieces. Shape each into a roll. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

They were SUPER tasty! I substituted whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour and added a bit more yeast to help the dough rise a bit more, but otherwise followed the recipe pretty closely.

I love cooking in the fall!!! Feel free to share a fall recipe with me - I'm sure I'll give it a try with my little Psalty singing cooks :)