Growing up in Ghana, we had so many opportunities to enjoy nature, so we want to emulate that experience for our beautiful kids. The sunny days, rainy days, our long walks to and from school, the tall trees, fresh farm produce at the markets all made us appreciate nature. Some nights, it would rain so hard, the roofs felt like being hammered with rocks. As scary as that may sound, waking up to the cool breeze in the mornings to hear the chirping birds was something to look forward to.
The countryside/villages portrayed a better representation of nature, as its lands and rivers were well preserved. Therefore, we relished every occasion when we visited. We enjoyed the cheerful fresh air as the and sun beamed on our faces. The joy and beautiful smiles of our family and relatives as in excitement that we were visiting was soothing and very reassuring. As children, it was so much fun running around during the various traditional festivities, and meeting new relatives umm… so nostalgic.
In a way, we do have some guilt not being able to expose our lovely children to that kind of environment. But, we won't beat ourselves up too much, because when fall comes around, trust that we do all we can to get them out to enjoy the trees, some dirt, apples, pumpkins and some highly anticipated teasingly cold breezy New Jersey fall.
This week we decided to go for apple picking. We decided to go somewhere far from home, but not too far out beyond one state. We looked online for the best farms around, and most families enjoyed Masker Orchard in NY. We looked up how far a drive it would be and luckily it was only an hour away. So set of a little after 10 am, and we arrived before noon.
The temperature had dipped into the forties and later fifties, but we made the best out of our day. We valued this as another family moment to enjoy ourselves outdoors; and, most importantly, we got to treasure some quality family time outside our comfort zones. If there’s one thing we want to stress on our blog, is to “celebrate life, and enjoy your loved ones”.
We love being outdoors, as much as the weather permits. As much as we wish we could spend more time with our beautiful twins outdoors, most of the time, we are unable to, hence for this moment, we were eager to “make this happen”. It’s always a relief to take that breathe of fresh air, acknowledging life, health and God’s grace in our lives. Truly, we are humbled to experience these times; therefore we make sure to create lasting memories for us all.
Lets pick some apples.
Apple picking apparently is more popular in the American Midwest, as time passed, it has become more popular in our small family as well. So we set of to New York. We drove through winding roads and strikingly charming farmlands, picturesque valleys and curvilinear mountainous roads, and we finally reached our destination in due time. As we had anticipated, we were met with acres of farmland filled with all kinds of apples.
One thing that stood out with this farm was that, families could either drive or walk through the farm for apple picking. That was quite unique. We didn't expect to see that. We chose to walk, and it wouldn’t take long for our kids to adjust. Surprisingly, the weather was not a hitch at all. We think they really enjoyed being outside in their warm and cozy new winter jackets, and seeing that many trees with apples might have thrilled them.
Apple, Apple, Apple, repeatedly they screamed, and it didn’t take long for the crunchiness of the apples were heard making their way through their teeth. We ate some ourselves, and they were really good. Masker Orchard is truly an awesome experience, it was beyond a pick-it yourself apple orchard; it allowed us to enjoy the outdoors with our family, gave us an opportunity to enjoy fresh farm produce, appreciate nature, and gave us another experience in our hearts and photo gallery. Maybe, this could be our autumn family tradition location for apple picking for our lifetime, who knows!
Thank you for stopping by.
Celebrate Life!
Celebrate Life!
Love,
