An apple a day keeps away anyone if you throw it far enough.

If you’ve been around these parts for awhile, you know that one of my favorite fall activities is apple picking. I posted about it in a blog post here. However, I am pretty particular about when we go. I like to wait for (usually) the one cool day in fall we get here in Southern California.

We got lucky this past weekend when a storm moved in, and despite early reports saying it would be a pretty bad storm, it basically brought a touch of rain, low lying clouds, and some much needed cooler temps. We headed off to Los Rios Rancho, in Oak Glen California.

I’ve added a few more tips here now that we’ve gone with two kiddos, I hope you find them helpful! Don’t forget to read my previous blog post with more tips too!

1. Go early in the season if possible. We went two years ago at the tail end of the season and the apples were pretty picked over. You had to really search which was frustrating for Evelyn when we told her “no” to every bruised apple she tried to put in our bag. This year, we came so early in the season, the girls had no problem finding great apples to pick! You’re paying a premium price for these apples because of the experience so you want to get good ones! I also think the premium price for these apples is well worth the memories we were making.

2. Bring layering clothes. This is for mostly cool days but even on those warm days. The temperatures in the mountains can fluctuate depending on wind, cloud coverage and time of day. It was in the high sixties most of the time we were there and coming from 100 degree temps all week, it felt pretty cold when we first got up there. But after hiking around the orchards for an hour, we all got hot and were grateful to be able to start peeling off the layers.

3. Get there right as they open! If you are there to grab some special family pictures, get there first thing. Otherwise, you’ll have people walking into your photos for the rest of the day. We were one of the first families in the orchard. We also make sure we take pictures first before we let the girls go since it’s harder to stop them once they realize how fun it is. So we make sure we grab those family pictures early in the morning right when we get there!

4. Call the orchard before you go! These are working farms generally and times and offerings can vary depending on things at the farm, including weather. The day we went was the day after they had wind gusts of 70mph. I called and made sure they were open but they were opening a bit later so they could start fixing up the damage they got from the wind the day before. So always check, it could really ruin your day if you get there and they are either closed or half of their offerings are unavailable.

I’m so grateful we are able to get find a weekend to make these memories and start this little tradition with our girls. Now I’ve got this bag of apples and I need to use up! Anyone have any good recipes?