2003.10.25 Picking Apples

Max fell asleep on the way there. Why does he have a truck in his mouth and safety goggles on? He's ScubaMax! Am I a horrible parent for letting him ride in the car with a matchbox car in his mouth? Yeah, probably...

It's a beautiful drive down route 7 from Sterling to Purcellville. Next year, we're going to go earlier, because most of the leaves are already gone and it's way late in the apple season (of course, I didn't know that until I got there).

We went to Crooked Run Orchard in Purcellville. It was a lot of fun, included a nice little hike through the woods on a dirt road, a romp across an unbridged creek, apple, pumpkins and a bucket. Max was all ready to go.

See, Max, this is what happens to your face when you sleep with safety goggles on.

Funny, he moved so much faster on the way to the orchard than he did on the way back. He was the empty bucket carrier.

The Reader's Digest version of our conversation while walking up the hill to the orchard:

• Max: Is this a race?
• Kevin: Nope, we're just walking.
• M: Can it be a race, with just the two of us?
• K: Sure, it'll be a fast walking race.
• M: Who will be the winner?
• K: I don't know, we haven't finished the race yet.
• M: And why? (Max now says this in response to any answer)
• K: We haven't gotten to the apples yet. When we do, we'll know who won

Max is always the winner.... because he never stops moving and never gives up. Plus, those goggles are freakin' speedy.

That thing is the apple picker. Max still couldn't reach the apples with it... Ok, Max couldn't lift it off the ground without wounding small animals.

Another conversation:

• M: Kevin (I hate it, but I can't get him to call me "daddy"), I'm going to wear my goggles because I don't want to get hit in the eye with an apple.
• K: Good idea. Isaac Newton lost an eye discovering gravity, you know.
• M: And why?
• K: I'll tell you later. Let's go pick some apples!

Max took this picture. Cool, huh? I was a freakin' pro with the apple picker. And that's a 2X sweater, and it fits. And that's the apple bucket.

Max took this picture too... It was supposed to be of me artistically using the apple picker to pluck one, just one, apple from the tree without disturbing the surrounding leaves and branches. I did it too. This is as close as you're gonna get to photographic evidence though.

This is the pumpkin patch. We saw some nice ones, but The Great Pumpkin was nowhere to be found.

Max was really excited about the pumpkin patch. Did you know that he used to say "jack o' lantern" "jack-we-later"? It used to make Jen and I laugh until we cried.

"Kevin, I am going to lift the pumpkin! Oh wait.... it's heavy. Can you help?"

"Wait, Kevin, look! I can lift it a little bit off the ground!"

"Ok, now you can help..."

Max walked a lot slower on the way back to the car. We probably hiked almost a mile between the hike to the apple orchard and then to the pumpkin patch. Max asked if I would carry him. I laughed and told him I had to carry the pumpkin and the apples. It wasn't a mean laugh, really.

After Max's first creek-crossing, I figured that I really had to document the return crossing.

Max misses dry rock number one... I think he may have done it on purpose.

"Look, Kevin, I'm walking on water!" Max misses dry rock number two. Something wet is afoot.

Max really liked crossing the creek and getting his shoes extremely wet and muddy. I was not quite so thrilled.

"Is my hair OK?" He's such a little man now. There's almost nothing toddler-ish about him except that he still drops his L's when speaking sometimes.