oak glen: raspberry picking at the apple farm

yes, we went raspberry picking at an apple farm in oak glen.  my littles were confused too, but we had fun any way.  my girlfriend and i loaded up our kiddos and made the drive out to yucaipa.  they were all excited and couldn't wait for this new adventure.  

i love this time of year when the chapter of summer is coming to a close and fall starts to creep in. i can almost smell the change in the air and feel it in my bones.  fall is one of my favorites seasons; halloween is a holiday i love to have lots be creative with.

oak glen is about an hour east of where we live.  whenever i go there, it feels like i am in another state.  i love it.

there is a cluster of farms that harvest fruit, vegetables and all kinds of tasty treats throughout the year.on weekends some of the farms host special events and activities that are perfect for families.   our kiddos were looking forward to doing some apple picking in early october. 

it was a warm afternoon.  we packed a lunch, some snacks and headed out. we figured the apple trees would provide plenty of shade for while we were picking.  what we did not plan on was the farms were running low on apples.  in fact, when we arrived we learned that we were not able to do any apple picking.  mother nature had not been cooperative with their crops this season.  the farms were only allowing apple picking on the weekends and we were visiting in the middle of the week.  

the look on the kid's faces was sad.  my girlfriend and i exchanged worried looks.  i could read her expression and it said: "did we really drive all the way out here NOT to pick apples?"

"mom, i want to pick some apples." my little girl whined.

the nice man at snow line orchard quickly came up with a back-up plan for us. 

"you can pick some raspberries." he quickly offered up. 

"raspberries?" i asked. i looked at my girlfriend with a relieved smile.  whew!

we gathered up some baskets and the nice man from the orchard pointed us toward the raspberry bushes that lined the property. 

we only spent a short time collecting raspberries.  in fact the raspberries were eaten faster than they were collected.  but who cares? it was all in good fun and the kids were loving it. 

we munched on our lunch at the picnic tables, under the big shady trees - the kids were full on fresh berries so it was a matter of us two moms trying to stuff food in our faces. 

we used this opportunity to snap some thematic fall pics of our own little people.  notice my friend: crouching tiger, hidden mamarazzi.  she is an amazing wing-man; i always have so much fun when i am with her and her family.  my kiddos love her kiddos.  they have an ease about their relationship much like their mom and i do.  

 we took full advantage of the beautiful weather and inspiring location.  we had a great day! i look forward to going back for another visit - soon.