riley’s farm

Usually September and October are my least favorite months since it’s normally super hot, right when we want the temperatures to be cooling down, but this Fall has been the coolest in recent memory! Cooler, more fall-like temps have made it seem like we have actual seasons here! It’s been perfect weather for apple picking, which we did a few weeks ago in Oak Glen. We visited Snowline Orchard first and then headed over to Riley’s, all in-time to make our exit by noon when the entirety of the Southern California metropolis was heading up the windy mountain road to descend on the quaint little groves of apples.

Mmmm.. raspberries.

Look what I found!

Showing off their pickings before going in the general store for some fresh apple cider and mini apple donuts.

Meredith was just a baby when we last went to Snowline, so this was her first time experiencing the mini apple donut goodness.

Watching the cider press.

It was still a little early in the season at Riley’s so the crop wasn’t great, but the girls filled up their bags nonetheless. The good apples we ate and the bruised up ones we made into applesauce with the Instant Pot. Applesauce forever!

Much to the girls’ delight, there was a plethora of “olden-type” kids activities at Riley’s farm, with everything from making butter to tomahawk throwing (we stayed away from that section). The girls chose to make and decorate some birdhouses for their activity.

This didn’t end well. Both girls were a little on edge having woken up early to make the drive out here and when the poor helper lady made the mistake of gluing on Samantha’s moss to the birdhouse roof without letting her help, Samantha became, well, unglued. We high-tailed it out of there fast. At least Meredith had a great time!

Burning off the last little bit of energy with a picnic at a really fun local park.

A real teeter totter! YES.

BEST. EVER.

My favorite part of the entire trip was this little unplanned stop at a random old schoolhouse. The free schoolhouse-turned-museum happened to be open, so Amelia (the only one who wasn’t melting down at that moment) and I took a quick tour. We were in love with this ADORABLE school!

My dream classroom, complete with inkwells, a phonograph, and a coal-burning stove for warming little hands. They had photographs of different classes who attended at this school, original cursive ledgers of roll call, handwritten notes from teachers– how Anne of Green Gables!