We were so excited to have our friends from Germany come and visit us for three weeks, late August to September. We hadn't seen them for 7 years, the last time being when we went to Germany with a 4 yr old Hannah and a 9mth old Lauren. A lot had changed since then. I was hoping that the visit would go well for everyone, especially them, we're kinda used to our gang of four. It was wonderful, like we just picked up where we had left off.
Just a little background. We met Stefan and Silke out west almost 14 years ago. Ken and I were taking a vacation out west (New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah) and met them at a bed and breakfast along the way. They had a similar itinerary planned so we traveled together, staying at the same hotel or bed and breakfast. Exchanging information and parting ways at the end. Not knowing that we had just started a wonderful, long lasting, cross Atlantic friendship. We have been to see them and they have been here to visit us. We look forward to many more visits.
Since we haven't been in Virginia long, we explored lots of the many neat things around us with them. It was really fun to see all that there is to do here in the Shenandoah Valley. The next several post will be about our time with our friends.
They arrived at the beginning of apple season, so we went to a farm north of us and picked the first apples of the season. We also found out that the farm still had peach trees and raspberries to pick. All of it was tasty, but for me the peaches were just incredible. The farm we went to had a little general store where you could buy all types of apple products, syrups, fruit jams etc. They had some bakery items and we tried apple doughnuts which were quite yummy. They also had a playground so the kids could run around while we enjoyed the beautiful scenery.
the old farm house
the orchards
off to go pick
Aaron had fun picking too, though not always the best apples, he really liked the over ripe ones on the ground
I think Caleb might have thought the apple was a strange ball, he had fun but wasn't quite sure what to do with the apple, but the dirt, no problem, just dig
yummy raspberries
We found out that Caleb really likes raspberries, it was really evident at the end of the day by his red spotted clothes
Cleaning up at an old well pump
A great picture of our friends ~ kind with just a bit of silly.
Fun on the playground, and a bit of physics with weight distribution. Good thing Hannah has long legs 
Whats better than a good roll down a nice grassy hill. Aaron got inspired and just started rolling, guess it looked too irresistable.
Enjoying apple doughnuts on the front porch of the general store.
Our take home loot. We enjoyed it all. I made a traditional American apple pie, a first for our friends. They really liked it, I ended up making another one. They shared a raspberry sauce recipe that they eat over ice cream, tasty too. A nice drive, great views, lots of yummy fruit and good memories.
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