We got a tip from a co-worker of Frank's to head out to the Applejack Festival in Nebraska City this weekend. So, of course, we have nothing to do here and we're pretty much up for anything these days, so we went. It's about an hour drive from here - we didn't really know what to expect, but what the heck. I think that we really only saw one tiny piece of this festival. We ended up at the Arbor Day Farms, but from what I understand, the whole town of Nebraska City has events going on. We were most interested in finding an orchard (or as ellie called it "torch-ard") so that we could pick our own apples. At the Arbor Day Farm, we could pick our own apples and the kids were really into it - they had trees that were low enough to the ground that they could easily reach them... the 10 pound bag filled up pretty quickly! (Everyone has promised to eat apples every day until they're gone and you never know, I might be baking another pie pretty soon...) :) After we picked our apples, we set out on the "exploration trail" - very Arboretum-esque... nice trail, pretty scenery, lots of trees, and plenty of things to look at and read along the way. There were also lots of "nature playgrounds" and the kids found it "worth the trip." We ate lunch there - just at one of those "food tents" - burgers and dogs and chips - that'll be $30. Funny to say, but it felt kind of good to be ripped off for once (just like home!) :) We decided that it was a very fun day - I don't know that we would be driving all the way down there every year to do it, but it was definitely fun to try once.
Now, on to the Block Party...we were all pretty tired after the apple-palooza of the morning, but we mustered up enough energy to head out to the front yard for the Dickinson's Landing Block Party - quite the extensive affair. Maybe it's because we'ver never really lived in a neighborhood that did an official "block party," but whoa! There were three of those big inflatable "bounce house" things for the kids, a live band (the first song they played was "sweet home chicago"...the irony!), pony rides (right in front of our house, as luck would have it...there's still the ring of brown to remind us of all the fun...). As you can imagine, when the ponies pulled up (again, RIGHT in front of our house) the kids could not wait to get out there! There were a good two or three hundred people out there, and we were encouraged to see that there really are a lot of people with little kids here. Ellie and Nathan had a great time (Nathan, unfortunately, missed his last pony ride becuase he asked to go inside to go potty...major success!) He also requested to go to bed around 7:30 -- it had been a long day at the apple fest and all with not much of a nap...so Frank and Nathan headed in around 8:00. I thought the bounce house things were supposed to "blow down" at 8:00, so I told Ellie we could stay out until they were done...well, I waited and waited and waited and it never happened ... basically, I convinced Ellie to come in around 9:00 -- it was pretty dark - I don't know how more kids weren't getting hurt in those things! She was also pretty tired and agreed without much of a fight... when Frank and I looked out the window around 10:15...the bounce houses were STILL UP! yikes. Ellie thought the block party was the "most fun ever" and we met lots of new aquaintences, so it was a success all the way around.
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