Apple picking and Applesauce

We went apple picking with our friends the Brummetts. We went to an orchard. An orchard is a field or a farm where fruit grows on bushes or trees. It was huge! We climbed lots of trees to get high apples. I like to climb trees a lot! But they weren't pruned. So I got lots of scratches.

The next day we went to their house to make applesauce! They have a huge farm. We were there the WHOLE DAY! I love going to their house! I enjoy playing with the cats, playing with their baby girl, and talking with Lisa (she's the mom).

Our friend Brielle came over to their house since she lives next door! We had a squirt gun fight, we watched a movie, we fed the chickens, we played with the cats, and we played school. I like it when Brielle comes over to play when we're there.

I started a feather collection. I found lots of feathers on the ground since they own 16 chickens! We had another squirt gun fight and waded in the pool. The four of us (me, my brother, Brielle and Conner) kept switching being the bad guys and the good guys. We used the back of the truck for the base.

We made a TON of applesauce. When I came in, I smelled it from the living room. We had picked four bushels of apples with our friends. We used 2 different kinds of apples. They were called Ginger Gold and Smokehouse. First you wash all the apples. Then you core and cut them. Then the apple pieces soak in some water and lemon juice. It helps them not turn brown. Then you heat the apples. We did some of this work inside and some of the work outside. Lisa and Mommy did most of the cutting and Daddy and Rob did a lot of the cooking and canning outside. Then, you press all the apples through a food mill. It's a machine that takes the peel out and turns the rest into applesauce. The food mill looks like a big sewing machine with a small bathtub at the bottom. Daddy did that the most because he is the tallest. And it was up high. Then when the guys did this, Mommy and Lisa got the jars ready and heated. They set up a work station with all their tools to fill the jars. You keep the applesauce warm on the stove and we don't add sugar because we all like the natural taste. Then you fill the jars and put them in a warm water bath canner outside to seal the lids. We made about 60 quarts of applesauce! We got 30 and they got 30. I'm glad we have all this applesauce because it's very yummy.

After spending the whole day there, it was night time and we had to leave. My brother tried to sneak Conner inside our car to try to take him home. They are always doing that. :) Those 2 are best friends! And then we left. We were so tired that I almost fell asleep in the car which I don't usually do that much. It was a great day! I'm going to go eat some applesauce right now!