Well it's my favorite season - fall! At least, it's fall everywhere else. Here in Southern CA it's pretty much still summer. It's supposed to be in the mid-80s this week. Sigh. Most people love this but for me, I need some crisp air, pumpkin picking and falling leaves. So what do you do when you need fall and it's nowhere to be found? You go out and find it. That's exactly what we've done.
We started our fall quest with apple picking in the mountains. We hit up the Raven Hill orchard (all organic!) where they have dwarf trees so the kids can reach up and pick their own, which was a big hit. This is the cutest little apple orchard. They have a "taste as you go" policy so we were able to pick any apple and eat it on the spot. I personally downed about 5 while we were there. The boys were excited to pick all the different varieties. This was especially exciting for Will because they spent September studying apples at school. He was thrilled when he found the "pips" in his apple core; he saved them so he could take them to school and show Mrs. Schneider.
After picking our apples, the adults decided we should try more of the local offerings by walking up the road to the Menghini Winery. And we were not disappointed! Great wine and a really fun, casual atmosphere. We then wandered around the super quaint town of Julian, CA, ate in an old school restaurant (seriously hasn't changed it decades), and of course got some apple pie to take home. All in all, a good start to fall.
In Virginia, our tradition was to go to the pumpkin patch every year. Unfortunately there are not many pumpkin patches near us in San Diego (plus Keith has been working too much to do anything fun anyway). So the boys and I picked out some pumpkins from the Commissary pumpkin display (festive!) and they each painted some little ones to decorate our front porch. Maybe not as festive as we're used to but they both enjoyed themselves. When Keith has some time off (December maybe?), they can all carve our big pumpkin and roast the seeds. Do you think our neighbors will appreciate our carved pumpkin around Christmas time?
We did enjoy a few glorious days of temps in the 60's this week. My much-neglected jeans and long sleeves were overjoyed to be worn once again. But now it's getting warm again so I'll go put on my shorts and tank top once again. I know I shouldn't complain; come January I'll be very glad we live here! Until then I'll continue to make pumpkin-themed meals and dream of cooler weather. Let it fall!
