Patterson's!

 

Yay for Patterson's Day! We had beautiful weather which meant a very crowded Patterson's! But we focused in and the lines went quickly! We got our apples for pie and our pastries for snacking in the car and then headed back to Mentor. We played games, made and ate pie and ate pizza too and had so much fun!!

Pattersons!

I love going to Patterson's every year! We had some extra passengers because we picked up Laney and Zsaz on the way. Patterson's was crowded, like usual, and the weather wasn't great but definitely not the worst we've dealt with there. After lots of pictures and some cider, we grabbed all of our purchases and started to head back to Mentor. We ate our treats in the car and I'm happy to say the fritters have improved since last year! Everyone got in on the pie making a little bit this year. We had lots of help especially with using the apple peeler/slicer. The rest of the day was filled with baking, eating, football watching and games!

 

Patterson's!

Our annual Patterson's happened a little earlier than usual this year but we still didn't manage to avoid the rain! The weather was terrible so we got inside as quick as we could and wandered around gathering our fritters (cookie for Paige), apples, kettle corn and some cider for the kids. 

We ate our treats on the car ride back to my parents and by the time I was ready to start making the pies most of the apples had been peeled, sliced and cut up by Paige, Laney and my mom! We got them in the oven and relaxed while we waited for our pizza order to be ready. I was exhausted and probably could have fallen asleep, I think the kids felt the same way because they had sleepovers the night before. The pies were delicious (of course!)! 

Waiting for everyone to finish

I guess it stopped raining long enough for this picture

and this one! 

Pat drove separately so I had to take his picture before he got in his car

Owen had a fritter

Paige had a cookie

Getting the apples ready

I was there too!

 

On the Farm!

 

Even though we went to Patterson's the other week, we still had to go pick out some pumpkins to carve so we went to the same place we have gone for the past couple of years (2020, 2019), Red Wagon Farm. It's our favorite because we like to laugh at with Pat while he tries to carry all the pumpkins we've picked out. We tried the corn maze where Owen and Pat completed it on their own and Paige and I got very lost and only found 1 of the 4 checkpoints! After the corn maze we stood in line for the hayride. Paige was disappointed by the slow speed of the tractor and we were all creeped out by the crazy scarecrows set up in the forest. The kids stopped briefly in the playground and then we grabbed some cider before dropping Paige off at dance.

Picking the right pumpkins

5 pumpkins. Again!

Mid-hayride

Before starting

Smiling into the distance

I had to photoshop two pictures together to get one of them smiling:)

Pie Day!

Last year we had to do a virtual pie day so I was extra excited to get back to our regular tradition of a Patterson's trip and pie making with my family! Unfortunately, lots and lots of people had also decided to head to Patterson's that day and then it was raining/hailing so everyone was packed inside and near the entrance! We didn't get to linger and browse as much as I would have liked but we still got our fritters (not the best unfortunately) and a ton of apples.

We headed back and started making the pies and we had a lot more participants this year which was so fun! Almost everyone had some part of making the pies or chatted around the kitchen island while they were being made. Of course they were delicious and we were all stuffed by the time we left!

Pat and Owen with some (very hot!!) cider

Loaded up on baked goods and ready to head out!

Giant fritter with exactly one small chunk of apple

Zsaz took a turn turning/peeling/slicing apples!

Hanging out while making pies

Ready to eat!

 

Halloween!

We started Halloween morning with some apple fritters! We were all very excited to get apple fritters after we missed out at Patterson's. Owen didn't have anything special happening at school (poor 7th graders!) but I got to go in to help with Paige's party. She and Miley dressed as Thing 1 and Thing 2 and looked very cute but left a trail of glitter wherever they went:) 

Owen wanted to head out without parents this year so he and friend went together. Pat and I got to go with Paige! She changed into her Golden Snitch costume and Owen changed into his Andy Dwyer costume. The weather was...not great. Windy and misty. This was the first year in a long time that the kids opted to go home instead of finishing out the official trick or treating time.