Apple Picking

Since being back in the US, the kids are all about tradition. There are certain things that they think we just have to do because we've "always done" them. (Sometimes "always done" means we did it once) I think it is like a trip down memory lane for them. One of the things the kids and I did every fall during Allan's residency was to travel north across the state line into North Carolina and pick apples. Usually we did this with a group of fellow homeschoolers. I was the one to suggest this outing. To be honest, this trip down memory lane was for me. So back at the end of September the 4 of us packed a picnic, gathered Mimi and Pop and headed out for a day at Sky Top Apple Orchard. It was a wonderful crisp fall day with little hints of the fall colors soon to come.

Below is a picture taken the last time we went to the Orchard and one taken in the same spot this year. My how the kids have grown in 3 years! (Don't ask why the first pic is in black and white. I was new to the digital photography world and monkeyed with the picture on the computer without saving a copy.)

2004 and 2008

Emily climbed up in the tree to pick apples

a great picture of my dad

I do exist!
I am the primary photographer so

rarely do I make the blog in pictures

Pop and Will bagging up our apples

Feeding the goats at the orchard

A Walk through the Bamboo forest

A Breezy Lunch!

A Hay Ride

Me and My Mom!

Just being silly!

Goodbye Cap!

Ira Emmett Wilcox Jr.

December 16, 1916-October 19, 2008

This week we are saddened by the death of my Grandfather. A feisty, spunky 92 year old who lived on his own until checking himself into the hospital 3 weeks ago with an infection. My mother and my Great-Aunt Margaret have spent the last 2 weeks by his side, holding his hand and caring for him. Affectionately called Cap by his grandchildren, he was a true outdoorsman who loved hunting, fishing and boating.
Cap with me and my brother in 1970

Cap is survived by 3 children, 7 grandchildren,
and 9 great grandchildren
This picture was taken of Cap and the great grandkids
the last time our whole family was together- Summer 2004

While we had not been able to visit him since returning home,
we are thankful we got to visit him while we were

in the states last summer. This picture was taken the last

time we saw him in August 2007