Over the weekend we went to Pine Tree Apple orchard. It is a yearly tradition of ours. It was the most beautiful fall day with clear blue skies, perfect for walking through the orchard. We picked up our favorite apple turnover, Carmel apples, apple cider, apple donuts and of course some apples.
Pine Tree has lot of activities perfect for families like a corn maze and pumpkin patch.
Do you have a favorite apple orchard, if so where?
This past weekend Jake and I went to the Minnesota Zoo’s Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular. It has become a fall tradition for us to go. It is such a fun event for all ages and we highly recommend! During this event one of the outdoor trails at the zoo is filled with 5000 carved pumpkins that are lit up! Each year there is a theme to the pumpkins, this year it was pumpkins A through Z.
The majority of the pumpkins are standard sized Jack-O-Lanterns. There are 500 to 1000 pound giants also mixed in throughout! Along the path there are artfully carved large pumpkins, around 100 pounds on pedestals. The detail on these pumpkins is incredible. I am sure they took hours an hours to create! This year was fun because as you passed through each letter section there was themed music playing.
Tickets sell out fast each year, so if you are ever interested in attending purchase your tickets early. There are four time slots that you can attend, 7pm, 8pm, 9pm and 10pm to help make sure it is not too busy at any given time. If you have kiddos you can bring your own strollers, wagons and snacks along to explore the pumpkin path.
What is your favorite fall activity?
Recently a local bride contacted me on short notice and asked if I could do flowers for her wedding. I have never done wedding flowers for anyone before besides a groom’s dinner. I love weddings and flowers so thought why not! I watched a few videos and looked up some tips, practiced a bit and then got to work. I made 8 centerpieces, 1 bouquet for the bride, 2 bridesmaids bouquets and 4 boutonnieres. I have never made a corsage before, so I told the bride I would not be comfortable providing this on short notice. I hope to practice to be able to make corsages in the future. I wish I would have taken photos during the process of making these beautiful arrangements, but only did right before pickup!
The bride requested a mint green and peach color scheme for her flowers. I picked peach colored dahlias and zinnias from my garden. The dahlias and zinnias alone were not enough to create centerpieces, a bouquet for the bride, bridesmaids and boutonnieres. I went to Trader Joes and picked up two dozen white roses, two dozen peach roses, 1 bunch of white spray roses, 1 bunch of wax flower, 2 bunches of silver dollar eucalyptus, 2 bunches of seeded eucalyptus, 2 bunches of baby eucalyptus, 1 bunch of ruscus, and 2 bunches of peach carnations. Since this was short notice I was not able to order flowers ahead. I will do this in the future as let me tell you, peach roses are very difficult to find this time of year! I found them last minute after calling many stores and am so happy I did because they make everything pop! For supplies I picked up floral wire, floral tape, ribbon for the bouquets, and Crowing Glory flower spray. I have heard about this stuff before. It helps keep flowers preserved and last longer. It really is all the rage and my flowers were looking just as good or better the next day.
For the bridal bouquet I used a beautiful peach tone Cafe Au Lait dahlia in the center. Cafe Au Lait dahlias are super popular in bridal work and I can see why. I wrapped the brides bouquet with a lace ribbon and pinned with faux pearl pins. For the two bridesmaids bouquets I used a peach velvet ribbon and also pinned. If there is one thing I wish I did different, it is the seed eucalyptus. I would place it lower in the bouquet so it does not take away from the flowers.
I have only made boutonnieres once before. They are so fun and surprisingly easy to make! I started with a rose and poked floral wire through the base of the rose then wrapped around the stem and tapped with floral tape. I then cut a piece of seeded eucalyptus and taped the stem. For the groom, I added in a few carnations. For the father of the bride, I used a collection of spray roses, wax flower and eucalyptus.
I love how everything turned out and the bride did too!