My 28th Birthday Trina5:35 PM 0 comments

I'm still hoping to cover Halloween by Christmas.  Hitting crunch time now.

But, first thing's first.  My birthday.  I turned 28 this year.  In light of my plans to *do it big* for my 30th, I kept this one relatively low key. 

My birthday itself went great.  I got an egg and bacon breakfast, a flower surprise at work, and lots of love from the little one.  But with my actual birthday falling on a Monday, I opted to truly observe the holiday (and it is a  holiday) on the following weekend by heading to Hillcrest Orchards in Ellijay, Georgia for some apple-pickin' adventures with the youngin' in tow.

Saturday morning started with Fallon's dance class.  Normally, they don't allow parents to watch as most of the kids will not cooperate if they know parents are watching.  So, I snapped a couple pictures of her waiting for the class to begin while other kids were filing in.  I'm such a dare devil. 

We headed up to the orchards after lunch in hopes that Miss Fallon would nap in the car (it's an hour and half drive).  When we pulled up, we were told they were full.  In keeping true to this new rule-breaking habit I've developed in my ripe old age, I pulled through the site as though we were leaving...and parked on the side of the driveway that leads out of the property.  Front and center parking, mind you.  Happy Birthday to me.

Once inside the orchards, Fallon and I headed straight for the trees to pick us some apples.  Luckily, many of the apples were low enough that Fallon could pick them herself.  She actually picked most of the apples we took home that day.

There were several other things going on at the orchard.  We got to milk their cow, Buttercup (ok, *I* milked Buttercup, but Fallon almost tried), which of course, knocks out #24 on my Bucket List.  :-D

We played in the playground area. 

We watched the wagon rides (didn't ride...the line was way to long to justify standing in it).

They had an awesome little nature trail with storybook views.

Also along the nature trail was a spot for pony rides...and Fallon rode the pony all by herself! 

At the end of our adventure, we had a wonderful time in the petting zoo where there were baby chicks we could hold, kittens, bunnies, goats, pigs, and a baby cow (this one didn't charge the poor child).

All in all, I highly recommend Hillcrest Orchards for family-centered fall fun.  Our apples were delicious and we used them for snacking, frying fritters, making muffins, and dipping in caramel and chocolate.

At the end of the night, once Mr. Almeda returned home from work, we were invited to join some good friends for football and hot tub time (the picture below was our view of the kids during hot tub time...what did parents DO before computer games??).

Of course, I whipped up some apple fritters to bring along.

Best birthday so far.