You know those people who are just a huge source of joy and light wherever they go? That’s my friend KT and she combined her love of dance and people by renting out a small space and getting a group of us together to dance, stretch and laugh until our stomachs hurt as those of us who are not as flexible or gifted in the dance department (ahem, me) attempted to follow the instructor.
It was a blast and a great way to kick off the weekend!
Saturday: Perry Lowe Orchard + Cookout
Every year Ryan and I tell ourselves to remember to go apple picking earlier in the season than we think and we were thankfully on top of it this year. Our early visit to a nearby orchard majorly paid off because we had a blast and left with three large bags overflowing with apples.
We drove about 60 minutes to Perry Lowe Orchard, a new-to-us apple orchard we will absolutely visit again in the future. The orchard is a sixth-generation apple orchard located in the foothills of North Carolina and it had the most wonderful family feel. We arrived around 10 a.m. and the boys immediately sprinted toward the jumping pad and playground.
I think we lucked out with our early-in-the-season visit because the orchard was not busy at all. More people trickled in toward the end of our time at Perry Lowe, but we didn’t have to wait long for a tractor ride to the orchard (which was absolutely stunning) and the boys were able to easily move from activity to activity without it feeling too crowded.
The orchard itself was expansive and rows of apple trees were labeled with the variety of apples available for picking.
They even had Honeycrisp!
(Dress: Amazon — wearing a small / Booties: Amazon — fit is true to size / Purse: Talulah — sold out but this one is very similar / Sunglasses: QUAY)
The main highlight for our boys was the tube slide at the orchard and the $5 unlimited wristbands we bought for Chase, Ryder and Rhett were worth their weight in gold as they did the slide a million times before we called it a day!
Once we made it back home, we had a few hours of downtime around the house until friends came over for a cookout and s’mores by the firepit.
We kept the menu simple with grilled chicken thighs (using our forever favorite chicken marinade), hot dogs, an arugula and beet salad with apples, buttery corn on the cob, watermelon, pineapple and fresh rolls. Easy and tasty!
It was a good night!
Sunday
Sunday was a wonderfully chill day for our family. It began with chores around the house and in the yard and also included a little baking!
Ryan and I agreed it was nice to have a no-obligations day on the agenda and we made the most of it by checking a lot of random odds and ends off our to-do list. A little after lunchtime, we headed out on our adventure of the day and biked to a local coffee shop with the boys where we bought macarons as an afternoon treat before biking on to a small trail for a short hike.
The boys made the hike more of a parkour experience, jumping on and off fallen trees, leaping over large roots and sprinting around curves. We then biked back home and the boys and Ryan hopped in the lake for a bit while I ran out to Publix to grab some food for our family for the week ahead.
We spent the rest of the evening hanging out in the backyard, digging into oatmeal apple crisp and relaxing as a family.
Our week ahead looks like a good one with fall activities (martial arts, soccer and piano) kicking into high gear. We also have plans to attend a mid-week baseball game with friends, I’m beginning a new small group on Tuesday and we’ll be celebrating Rhett’s (belated) birthday with his new preschool class as well. I hope to see ya back here on Wednesday but until then, I’ll try to share daily musings on Instagram Stories as well! Enjoy your week, my friends!
