Fall at Our House

In most regions of the country, Fall is marked by the changing of leaves and cooling of weather. Well, not so in my family. It is marked by when Dove season begins because this is the changing of meals, when I never know what kind of meat we will be sampling for dinner that night. So, in reality, Fall is AKA Hunting Season for our household. While I love the bonding that occurs with my husband and son, there are a few things I prefer not to refuse to eat. However, I do enjoy the pictures I get from these outings. Just wait until I get my elk, then you'll see some fantastic pictures :)

Buckaroo and his "kill" for the night. Only enough for him and Punky (Oh, darn!)

We had a random rainstorm that lasted maybe 6 minutes so the kids ran out and tried to catch raindrops on their tongues before lightening got close. Looking at the sky, you would never know there was a rainstorm happening.

"Spooky" Apple Festival

I decided to take Punky Girl to an Apple Festival at a ranch near our community, Did I just say a ranch? Yes, a working cattle ranch has orchards of apples, pears and peaches-it is quite a little jewel in the desert. As we were driving there, I told her that the trees she saw outside were called Joshua trees and we were in the Joshua Tree Forest. Punky said, "OOOOO, spooky!" I asked her what was so spooky and she said, "The forest, there are bears here." I had to laugh at this point. I said, "Punky, does it look like there are bears out there?" "No, Mom, it actually looks like the desert." Hmmm, perceptive isn't she? I told Punky that we would be safe and no bears would get us while we were apple picking. Luckily, she believed me and I didn't have to fight off bears to get us there. But, I was prepared :) We did see a few wild turkeys that live at the ranch but those aren't "spooky" enough for Punky.

While we didn't gather many apples, we did get some apple butter, a homemade apple pie (which is why I REALLY went), a few pears, and some really cute pictures.

My friend from the Midwest said the first time she saw a Joshua tree, she thought it was something out of a Dr. Suess book. She might have point if you really look at them.

Here is the "spooky" forest. I think they look like rabbits popping up all over the desert.

Punky Girl was eager to go apple pickin'

Punky and her trademark red shades-they make all the great pictures