Cider Festival

17 October 2009
Last October I FINALLY made it to the Holmstead's Cider Festival. In the Fall my Aunt Lorena, Uncle Bruce, and cousins Josh, Joseph, Jesse, Mary, Peter, and Libby host a giant party in their yard where guests indulge in chili, homemade doughnuts, and gallons upon gallons of freshly squeezed apple cider.

This year, Cider Festival began with a morning drive to the apple orchard in The Middle of Nowhere, Idaho. (Except it is right by Chicken Dinner Road--I do know that.) There were a lot of family members there: most of the Holmsteads, the Farnes, Darcy and her boyfriend, Lindsey and her three boyfriends, and Craig and Jaclyn. So, of the Whetten family, that made for 3 of the 10 siblings and 11 of the 27 grandchildren.

We went up and down the rows of apple trees, picking the good ones off the ground, shaking the fat ones out of the tree tops, and searching for the "treasures" hiding in the leaves. I can't even remember how many bushels of apples we gathered but it was A TON.

Back at the Holmstead farm we made lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Whetten, tidied up the house, organized an assembly line for the cider press, said "Hi" to the cows, gave leftovers to the chickens and gathered eggs, played soccer in the backyard, lamented the llamas that had been removed, petted the horse's nose, assembled a troupe to make the doughnuts, and put out a few stalks of corn for decoration.

People came by the van-loads all evening long. We had kids going on tractor rides, fiddlers playin' a tune (okay, maybe violinists), and conversations all over the place. It was a perfect Cider Fest!

Chicken Dinner Road

Legs hidden among tree trunks.

Aunt Lorena, the Hostess with the Mostest

Lindsey holding a "Twillight" apple

A Craig! Looks like he found "The Num Nums"!

Johnny Appleseed and I share the same birthday.

The Holmstead farm

What little brother Matt wants to be when he grows up.
(The answer is: a baby cow)