apple harvest and life at the present

We had no idea when we moved into our new place that we would have fruit coming out of our ears half of the year.
It has been kind of magical to watch each tree blossom and its fruit ripen and then to be able to go out with a big bucket or box and have the girls help us fill it with the fresh fruit.
Our apple tree is literally dripping with apples right now.
I felt like we had already picked at least half of them and then I stood back and it didn't even seem like we'd made a dent.

Minnie, Louie girl and I went out this afternoon to harvest a few apples for some caramel apples.
Lou was trying to eat them straight off of the tree (the branches are hanging so low they're so heavy right now) and Minnie was singing lots of made up songs as she trounced around the yard and tried to climb the tree.
We have spent lots of afternoons out in the yard this summer and I must admit, as much as I love fall, I'm having a hard time letting go of summer.
Bare feet, the smell of sunscreen, open windows, freshly cut lawn...how I will miss thee.
However, with the changing seasons come the holidays and figuring out where we'll put the Christmas tree in our new house, decorating our little front stoop and sledding down our side yard.
Change is good.
I just have to keep reminding myself of that.

Life feels really simple right now, which is good, but I have this constant feeling that I need to be doing more.
The girls need more activities.
I need more hobbies.
I should be accomplishing more in my day.
But then we spend some of our afternoon doing this...picking and munching on apples, sifting through rocks and lounging in the grass, and I am quickly reminded of how simplicity is good.
It is so so good.
In fact, I am convinced it is what the girls need most.
Many of our days are slow.
A long breakfast, maybe some PBS, coloring, a bath, a nap for Lou.
Minnie will inevitably change into her Belle dress and top it off with a crown.
The girls will toddle around together, Minnie will probably steal something of Lou's, I'll help resolve the issue.
Maybe we will run some errands. Maybe we won't.
Lots of days there are play groups (Minnie's fave), and then there's preschool.
The girls typically nap together in the afternoon (although Minnie may be fading) and I get a few hours to read, clean, nap...those are my zen hours.
And then Bob gets home and we eat dinner together and the few hours before bedtime just fly right on by like they barely happened at all, but they are some of my favorite because the four of us are together.

I really love this time of life.
It is hard when I am in the midst of it sometimes to realize how incredible it is.
This afternoon gave me a minute to kind of step back and look at it with fresh eyes.
Min and Lou just seemed to bask in the simplicity of it all which was a good reminder for me to do the same.