Fall apple pickin'

The annual fall apple pickin day arrived amidst relatively warm weather this year. About six or seven families from our church trek to northern Illinois apple country for an all-american day of picking and eating apples and buying country store staples such as apple butter and honeybear honey. I noticed something different in the country store this year that tells me America is watching entirely too much reality t.v. In the cute ceramics corner, where there are slices of ceramic apples and corn-on-the-cobb salt and pepper shakers, sat a piggy-bank-like bank. This bank was significantly different than your run of the mill piggy or apple bank though. This bank was the torso of a bikini clad woman, no head no legs, with the words, "Nip and Tuck Money Saver" across the midriff. So for you stay-at-home farmers wives, every cent you can squirrel away and every coupon you can take to the grocery store will bring you that much closer to your trip to the Palm Springs Center for Cosmetic Correction and finally to your perfect life, where the only crows you will have to worry about are the ones on your picket fence.
After our apple farm adventure was over we returned to Tim and Kelly's home for some homemade pizza and apple pies. We also had a pastry chef in our midst who made homemade caramel for apple dipping. It was a day filled with American culinary delights.
(If you look closely at the above photo you will notice that Christopher is sporting a GI Joe hairstyle in the photo. Unbeknownst to us, Christopher and his friend David practiced their haircutting skills while secreted away in his bedroom. David came out with hardly a scratch, while Christopher sported a West Virginia special. So, for the next few weeks, including picture week at school, Christopher will have his "new" look.)