Apple Picking with Ava

Soon after we moved here, we took Ava to an apple orchard near our house. They were having some sort of flea market/festival. She was excited to pick apples, but we explained that it wasn't apple season yet. We promised we would come back in the fall and pick. This seemed to satisfy her that day. She did periodically remind us about our apple picking promise. When the leaves started to turn, she spoke of apple picking more frequently. She had the whole scenario plotted....what bucket she wanted to use...what she would do with the apples. Then about a month ago we went back to that orchard. You can imagine her excitement. She practically skipped into their store. "Hello! We would like to pick some apples, please! Where do we get our bucket?" she sang out to the grouchy old lady behind the counter (not a very nice description....but she was not a very nice lady) She grouched at us,"No apple picking here. If you want to go in the orchard you need to come back on the weekend and pay for a tour." So I nicely asked her, "Oh, will we be able to pick apples then?" to which she all but growled, "No. No picking." The look on Ava's face....she just crumbled. Her little lip started to quiver. She held it together, though. I told her we'd find someplace else. But you know how it is. You get busy. You forget.
And then last week I was back home visiting family. We had lunch with some friends and I was hurrying to get home to put Emily down for a nap and get dinner started. I was cooking for everyone at my mom's that night. I remembered that there was an orchard on the way back to my parent's and I wanted to buy some apples to make applesauce. My car felt toasty warm against the freezing cold rain and I really was in a hurry. I almost drove past the orchard. Then at the last minute I turned into the parking lot. I'll just run in really quick, I thought. I got the girls out and Emily into her puffy Eskimo-like winter coat and ran through the icy splashes on our face. Once inside, Ava realized that we were at another orchard. She started asking about the possibility of picking. "Oh no, not today honey. We really need to get back and it's freezing cold and raining and muddy....." I tried to explain. She wasn't hearing it. She launched into a great screeching tantrum. I unsuccessfully tried to calm her down. I was pretty embarrassed by her behavior and getting kind of angry with her when I took a deep breath and thought about why she was having such a total fit. All she wanted to do was pick a friggin' apple. How hard could that be? I walked up to the counter and asked, "Are we allowed to pick today?" The lady looked at me from under her glasses like I was stupid (is it a prerequisite to be a curmudgeon to work the apple orchard counter?). "Yes. You're allowed, although I don't think you want to do that. It's freezing cold and terribly muddy and you have to walk ALL the way to the top of that hill out there." She didn't shake me. "Okay, thanks. We're just going to go out and pick one or two. Can I pay you now?" Ava is now getting pretty psyched and tugging at my leg whispering, "Bucket! Bucket, mommy, get a bucket!" The lady glared down at Ava. "You have to bring em' back in here to be weighed before you pay. If you're only picking one or two, you don't need a bucket." I was on the verge of forgetting my manners at this point. "Could we please get a bucket?" A little edge creeping into my tone of voice now. She begrudgingly handed me a bucket, which I handed to Ava and we headed out into the cold, pouring rain again. After a quick pit stop at the mini van to get the stroller and look for the umbrella (no luck there) we headed up the hill. Luck was not in our favor and about halfway up, it really started pouring. I was about to abort mission once again, and then I looked down and saw Ava's determined little face as she focused to keep her footing up the slippery hill. We pushed on to the PICKING sign. I pointed out the apples and Ava hurried toward a tree. In her haste, her foot got caught on the stroller wheel and she fell hard onto the muddy grass. It's one of those moments when you see your kid fall and think, "Uh-oh. That one had to hurt." As I bent to pick her up, I anticipated the wails and tears. Instead, she pushed up on her own, turned toward me and said, "Alright, lets pick some apples." and off she went. She picked 3 apples, carefully placed them in her bucket, carried her bucket back down the hill and hefted it onto the counter top for the old lady to weigh. She paid her dollar for the 89 cents worth of apples and kept the change. She was definitely feeling like big stuff.

Back in the van, I cleaned off one of the apples and she took a big, juicy bite as we pulled out of the parking lot. "Mmmmm. Mommy, this is the best apple I ever tasted. It's delicious. Mmmm....." I got a food review on the merits of this perfect apple that she picked herself for the next 5 minutes down the road.

I will say, that despite my hurry to get back and the freezing cold rain and the muddy clothes it was all worth that look of pure joy on Ava's face when she picked those apples. She shined. She really did.

That was apple picking with Ava...and Emily too. She seemed happy to be along for the ride.