Lazy Labor Day Weekend

I almost titled this post "Labor-free Labor Day Weekend" but there is never a labor-free day in our household. If it's not the dishes piling up from having to eat almost every meal at home (that's what a restrictive diet will do for ya'), it's keeping up with the laundry since I refuse to let it get out of hand. If not one of those things, it's this or that, or whatever. And I won't even mention all the paper trails that wind up on my kitchen counters and need controlling, lest they takeover over the place.

On Saturday we got our usual Chinese lunch from the same place we go to every Saturday and then it was off to the apple orchard with the kids.

I'm going to tell a little about this orchard and I promise I will try not to bore anyone but I can't help but be amazed by this business and the entrepreneurial spirit of its owners. The business is called The Apple Works and I was introduced to it fairly early in its existence - the mid-1990's. My husband's mother and father had purchased land in Brown County, not far from the orchard, on which they planned to build a home.

While clearing the land for my in-laws' home, my husband and I made frequent trips down to the property to work for the day. The apple orchard was on the way and it didn't take long before I discovered they made the most incredible caramel apple I had ever eaten.

During this time, the business was so small, they didn't even have regular hours. One might stop by one day and they were open and then not on the next. One evening, when making our way home from the in-laws' property, James and I decided to stop in for a bag of apples and a caramel apple. I went inside the very small (at the time) store area to find no one was there. I called out and got no answer. I peeked into the back area where customers aren't supposed to go....still no one in sight.

My husband and I looked briefly around the outside area and could not find anyone, yet we heard strange noises coming from one of the fields far back away from the backside of the barn that houses the store area. We still couldn't find anyone and thought it was quite odd that the store - with the cash register and all the merchandise right there - was totally un-manned. All I wanted was a caramel apple and maybe some apples. To purchase apples, they do not have them pre-bagged, they bag them for customers on the spot so getting a bag of apples was out of the question but I really wanted one of those apples......employee or no employee there. So I picked up one with plans to leave money for it and a note by the register but....no price tag. I went ahead and left a note and maybe $2. I don't remember. It was a long time ago. All I remember was that we left our phone number on the note and the woman called us later that evening and thanked us for being honest.

After we left the orchard, James remembered there was a house up the road that always had a sheriff's car in the drive so we drove there and told them what we had just experienced. The sheriff's deputy who lived there told us the woman who runs the orchard was always leaving the store wide open to go out into the orchard and work. I was shocked.....even having grown up out in the country, I had forgotten that some people still lived this way, so trustingly "knowing" everything was okay.

This whole apple incident was so long ago there wasn't really anything there but apple trees, a barn, and apples. Now there is a petting zoo, trails to walk through the surrounding woods, an annual festival in the Fall that is one of the largest around, a train for families to ride - to which they have added a "covered bridge" (really just a bridge on land but the train goes through it and it's cool for the kids), weekly entertainment under the patio area with picnic tables, and the list goes on and on....

It's just amazing how we have watched this tiny fledgling business go from practically nothing to being one of the "it" places for families to go for an outing. James and I almost laugh when we hear people talk about this place and how they just found it and we've known about it and been going forever.....and watching it grow bigger by the year.

Anyway....so that's what we did on Saturday. We went to the apple orchard and played around for a bit. Reiss fed some goats.....


In this photo, Reiss is looking up at the goats walking around on the ledges up high. They have planks for the goats to walk around about fifteen feet off the ground and in some places, right over the heads of people visiting.

Reiss petting a donkey......

James, Reiss, and Milla going down the slide. Yes, all at the same time.

The kids love this slide. James says it hurts when you get to the bottom. Just about every person who goes down the slide yells "Ouch!" when they get towards the bottom. I wonder if the owners know........???

Reiss and Milla in a built-from-scratch tractor for children to play on...

Behind the tractor, there are ponies to ride. James gave the man the $3 for Reiss to ride. Reiss got on and started screaming so we got our $3 back. Hey, he tried and that is progress! Farther back behind the ponies, you can see the barn where the slide is built. The slide is made from industrial size water fittings.....or whatever you call them. Behind the slide barn is the "covered bridge." The barn is red with a green roof. The bridge is orangey-tan.

On the train - They look like they are simply overcome with joy....or not.

The first train photo was just bad. They didn't want to smile for the camera but they really did love the train, as seen by the look on Reiss' face in these photos......

Reiss just sat and giggled for almost the entire ride......