family

This weekend was so wonderful. Sometimes, I hate the idea of looking into a weekend that seems like it might stretch on forever, without lots of plans or tasks to complete. But this weekend was the perfect balance of downtime and activity.

Yesterday, we went to a fall festival at a local orchard/garden center, which was so lovely. While we were there, we bought apples for the recipes we made this weekend.

Last evening we went to an Octoberfest party at a friend's house where there were lots of other kids; the kids had a good time, the baby was passed around, my husband and I had the chance to reconnect with some friends we hadn't seen in a while.

Then today, we (naughty naughty) skipped church and went to the closest Wegman's grocery store as a treat. The baby was cranky, but it was still a nice trip. After having lunch there, we headed home and made an apple pie. Thanks to the genius teachers at the kids' daycare, I learned that they can help cut up apples with plastic butter knives, so they were hard at work (and occupied) the entire time we prepped the apples. The pie was DELICIOUS (recipe here -- the cooked syrup for the filling makes it, I'm convinced) and my husband then used the leftover apples (we were a little chop-happy with them) to make these pork chops.

Such a wonderful weekend! Happily exhausted this evening, but it is so worth it.