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Apple Festival

...otherwise known as, why I didn't post this weekend =).

We were up in the mountains at a Lutheran camp for apple festival. The basic idea is that a bunch of people get together to harvest apples from the wild apples around at the camp, and then we make apple cider, apple crisp, apple pie, apple muffins... This is along with typical camp things like campfire, crafts, songs, and so on.

Last year there was a great apple crop. We walked to a few known trees, the counselors climbed them, shook down lots of apples, and the kids picked up the fallen apples and put them in the counselor's backpacks. I am sure we had more than a hundred pounds... Michael would have a better estimate of how many we got.

Unfortunately, this year was not a good year for apples at the camp (due to a wet, cold spring and a dry, hot summer). So a crop of apples miraculously appeared on the front lawn at the main lodge! The kids ran around collecting the apples that were nowhere near any apple trees... There were even conveniently empty boxes that just held all of the apples... I hear that they had a good time: I was back at our room, trying to get Luke to take a nap.

This was a very relaxing weekend, little schedule, just playing with kids, talking with old and new friends. Eleanor is already planning next year =)

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