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Last year: reasonably seasonable

To me, nothing says Fall like apple-picking. Slightly nippy weather, maybe a hot apple cider, the air crisp with a tart bite, kind of like a Granny Smith. Last fall, we went with some friends for a family fun apple-picking adventure that I wrote about here. We came away with a nice stash of some different apple varieties than you usually find at the grocery store - a welcome change from the tired same old-same old. Plus, Jolie had a blast with her friend sitting in the wagon gorging on just-picked apples and romping on top of hay cubes - serious good, clean fun..

So when our friends again suggested an outing to the same farm for apple-picking this year, we were chomping at the bit, so to speak. Apples! Cider! Hay cubes! Whoopee! Maybe I'd even be ambitious and make something with the apples like domestically-gifted people do, you know, pies and the like. (Confession: While I do consider myself a fair-to-middling baker, my pie attempts have been somewhat of a disgrace, what with deformed crusts and all.)

But pretty soon, once we were on farmland, I realized there were important differences between this trip and our one from last year.

Difference #1: I'm pregnant. (And large)

I seemed to have forgotten how much standing around was involved in apple-picking. Standing and walking and more standing. Funny, they do not provide benches or chairs in between the rows upon row of apple trees and it was not long before I NEEDED TO SIT. For one, I've got Vein Issues.  For another, I've got Large, Burgeoning Belly Issues. This girl needed a chair, preferably one with a LARGE SEAT.

Difference #2: It's HOT.

As in, NOT apple-picking weather. The day we chose got up to an unseasonably 85 + degrees. While we did go in the morning, it still got steamy during the height of our wilting picking which meant everyone was covered with a fine layer of sweat. You can imagine what the large woman with the burgeoning belly looked like. Words can not express how hot I was, standing there with the sun beating down on me, dreaming of an air-conditioned mobile unit I could watch everyone else pick apples from.  This was not hot apple cider weather. It was JUST WRONG.

DIfference #3: I'm pregnant. (And starving)

Being pregnant means needing to eat constantly. I figured I could snack on some of the apples as we picked and totally underestimated my ability to not be satisifed with snacking soley on apples. I was HUNGRY. And slowly going insane.

The rest of our party (a hardier, less whinier sort) was still in the midst of picking when I turned to my husband and told him I was done. No more. No way. So we peeled off early to rest and recuperate at the farm snack stand where I gorged on cold apple cider and an incredible piece of apple pie a la mode while sitting in a cooler, shaded area. Much. Better.

We do plan another visit, later in the season, this time equipped with a portable lawn chair for me, size-appropriate snacks, and hopefully, sweaters.

_{Disney Family does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Call your doctor regarding any medical condition. Never disregard your doctor's advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Disney Family site.}