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Apple picking!
Last year ![[instagram.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/profile_icons/instagram.png)
sashagee and I went apple-picking together as just about the last date activity we did before her pregnancy made her too sick to do anything. We always wanted to go back, though, and since we missed the Apple Fest in Lincoln Park this would be our main chance to get a huge horde of apples this season. And since our parents still had never met, we invited both of them along to apples and lunch.
Last year when we went it was chilly and misty and we arrived just after a rain, so there was barely anyone there. This year it was sunny and warm, almost 24°C when we got there and 26° by the time we left, so the parking lot was packed. Fortunately, most of the people seemed to be there for the pumpkin patch or to go to the shop, so while there were many more people waiting for the apple picking than last year (when it was literally just six people includingsashagee and myself), we still had plenty of room in the orchard, and by the time we made it over to the shop to buy another apple bread package--we made it last year for britshlez's Rosh Hashanah dinner but sashagee felt sick and so we left before we actually got to try any of it--as well as apple cider donuts, strawberry wine, various jams and sauces, and sadly no pumpkin donuts because all the donuts there were glazed and sashagee didn't want that much sweetness. And after all that was done, we all went to Crusade Burger Bar and bought both sets of grandparents burgers!
It was a lovely day and I have the pictures to prove it:
This is all my family--unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of both ofsashagee's parents--standing with our apples, including wanderluster_kp! I had no idea she was going to be in town until last week when my mother told me. I invited wanderluster_kp directly and she said that she'd definitely make it except in the case that her third booster shot, which she was planning on getting the day before, made her sick, and since she's in this photo that obviously didn't happen. She finally got to meet her niece, and when Laila was old enough to have more of a personality!
Laila spent the whole day being passed back and forth between relatives and it didn't bother her in the least. She's a much calmer baby than I was--my parents told me that the first time they took me out to a sit-down restaurant as a toddler was also the last time my family went out to eat until I was much older, because the food was late and, as they said, I didn't appreciate it, my parents didn't appreciate it, no one else in the restaurant appreciated it and probably people in close parking spots didn't appreciate it either. Compared to that, Laila is a perfect golden baby.
This is what I mean. Here'ssashagee's father holding Laila and Laila loves it, even with the heat and the sun. What a good baby.
It wasn't all just family companionship for Laila. Whilesashagee were eating apples and trying to find the best ones to bring home, her father took a few bites out of an apple and then offered it to Laila to try and Laila loved it. She doesn't have any teeth yet but she kept sucking on it, trying to get all the juices out, for maybe five minutes. This is what convinced us that we needed to try to give grown-up food again, because if she drank all that apple juice and was fine all day, she can probably handle applesauce.
Laila's in the reaching for everything stage, though. She reaches for everything we bring up to our mouths even if it's not food at all. If we're eating it (or pretending to), she wants to eat it too! That's a problem when I eat so much spicy food, but babies can eat spicy food from six months old so I don't have much longer to wait before giving some to her.
Family photo! Notice Laila staring hard at the apple. She still wants more.
My burger, the "After Forever" (also the name of a symphonic metal band). It normally comes with cheese but for obvious reasons I asked for none, but it doesn't matter because honestly I think eggs are the superior other protein to put on the burger. This picture was taken after I scraped most of the aioli off the burger bun because "aioli" is just a fancy word for "garlic mayonnaise" and I hate mayo.
The burger had way more protein that I expected because the menu said that it included "aged white cheddar, braised brisket, pico de gallo, fried egg, garlic aioli," and I didn't realize that meant there was a burger and braised brisket. I didn't end up eating dinner on Saturday night because the burger, veggies, and part ofsashagee's fries was more than enough. Plus the apples I ate later.
I got a nice text from my mother after the weekend, telling me that she had a lovely time and that she was showing some of her friends the menu and they were amazed anyone could eat an entire burger or milkshake. She asked me if I had ever had a milkshake and I had to say no--I think they're too scary. They're like those photos of bloody marys that have an entire roast chicken stuck in them. It's just too much, and even if I ordered an impossible burger so there wouldn't be a question of milk and meat I wouldn't get a milkshake. Maybe if I were sharing and it was the only thing I went there for.
The burger was delicious, though. More brisket on everything.
Apples picked: Jonathon, Golden Delicious, Empire, and Snow Sweet. Jonathon were definitely the best for me--they said that the crispness and tartness made them good for baking but crispness and tartness are the two best parts of an apple so they
sashagee and I went apple-picking together as just about the last date activity we did before her pregnancy made her too sick to do anything. We always wanted to go back, though, and since we missed the Apple Fest in Lincoln Park this would be our main chance to get a huge horde of apples this season. And since our parents still had never met, we invited both of them along to apples and lunch. Last year when we went it was chilly and misty and we arrived just after a rain, so there was barely anyone there. This year it was sunny and warm, almost 24°C when we got there and 26° by the time we left, so the parking lot was packed. Fortunately, most of the people seemed to be there for the pumpkin patch or to go to the shop, so while there were many more people waiting for the apple picking than last year (when it was literally just six people including
sashagee and myself), we still had plenty of room in the orchard, and by the time we made it over to the shop to buy another apple bread package--we made it last year for britshlez's Rosh Hashanah dinner but sashagee felt sick and so we left before we actually got to try any of it--as well as apple cider donuts, strawberry wine, various jams and sauces, and sadly no pumpkin donuts because all the donuts there were glazed and sashagee didn't want that much sweetness. And after all that was done, we all went to Crusade Burger Bar and bought both sets of grandparents burgers!It was a lovely day and I have the pictures to prove it:
This is all my family--unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of both of
sashagee's parents--standing with our apples, including wanderluster_kp! I had no idea she was going to be in town until last week when my mother told me. I invited wanderluster_kp directly and she said that she'd definitely make it except in the case that her third booster shot, which she was planning on getting the day before, made her sick, and since she's in this photo that obviously didn't happen. She finally got to meet her niece, and when Laila was old enough to have more of a personality! Laila spent the whole day being passed back and forth between relatives and it didn't bother her in the least. She's a much calmer baby than I was--my parents told me that the first time they took me out to a sit-down restaurant as a toddler was also the last time my family went out to eat until I was much older, because the food was late and, as they said, I didn't appreciate it, my parents didn't appreciate it, no one else in the restaurant appreciated it and probably people in close parking spots didn't appreciate it either. Compared to that, Laila is a perfect golden baby.
This is what I mean. Here's
sashagee's father holding Laila and Laila loves it, even with the heat and the sun. What a good baby.It wasn't all just family companionship for Laila. While
sashagee were eating apples and trying to find the best ones to bring home, her father took a few bites out of an apple and then offered it to Laila to try and Laila loved it. She doesn't have any teeth yet but she kept sucking on it, trying to get all the juices out, for maybe five minutes. This is what convinced us that we needed to try to give grown-up food again, because if she drank all that apple juice and was fine all day, she can probably handle applesauce. Laila's in the reaching for everything stage, though. She reaches for everything we bring up to our mouths even if it's not food at all. If we're eating it (or pretending to), she wants to eat it too! That's a problem when I eat so much spicy food, but babies can eat spicy food from six months old so I don't have much longer to wait before giving some to her.
Family photo! Notice Laila staring hard at the apple. She still wants more.
My burger, the "After Forever" (also the name of a symphonic metal band). It normally comes with cheese but for obvious reasons I asked for none, but it doesn't matter because honestly I think eggs are the superior other protein to put on the burger. This picture was taken after I scraped most of the aioli off the burger bun because "aioli" is just a fancy word for "garlic mayonnaise" and I hate mayo.
The burger had way more protein that I expected because the menu said that it included "aged white cheddar, braised brisket, pico de gallo, fried egg, garlic aioli," and I didn't realize that meant there was a burger and braised brisket. I didn't end up eating dinner on Saturday night because the burger, veggies, and part of
sashagee's fries was more than enough. Plus the apples I ate later. I got a nice text from my mother after the weekend, telling me that she had a lovely time and that she was showing some of her friends the menu and they were amazed anyone could eat an entire burger or milkshake. She asked me if I had ever had a milkshake and I had to say no--I think they're too scary. They're like those photos of bloody marys that have an entire roast chicken stuck in them. It's just too much, and even if I ordered an impossible burger so there wouldn't be a question of milk and meat I wouldn't get a milkshake. Maybe if I were sharing and it was the only thing I went there for.
The burger was delicious, though. More brisket on everything.
Apples picked: Jonathon, Golden Delicious, Empire, and Snow Sweet. Jonathon were definitely the best for me--they said that the crispness and tartness made them good for baking but crispness and tartness are the two best parts of an apple so they
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