Weekend Outing

Last weekend my parents stopped by for a night, on their way back from a vacation. We planned to go apple picking with them -- the perfect fall activity. I had visions of homemade applesauce simmering in the crock pot, apple crisp for dessert, apple cobbler for breakfast.

Well, it was not in the cards. Thanks to a late frost back in April, the apple crop in these parts was meager this year, and the last apple orchard closed its doors to the public the day we planned to go. This was especially disappointing, considering last year we were rained out (three weekends in a row) and didn't get to go, either. Maybe next year.

Anyway, in lieu of apple picking, we opted to visit an animal rescue/sanctuary nearby that's exclusively for birds of prey. It just opened a new kids' play area, so it seemed a perfect solution.

The birds were interesting to see, although hard to photograph. But we enjoyed meandering through the preserve, seeing all kinds of owls, vultures, eagles, falcons, hawks, etc. And the kids, naturally, had fun playing in the bird-themed hands-on play area.