Apples, apples, apples...

We have some friends who own a farm just outside of Boulder, and these pictures were taken during our second encounter with them since...oh, about college.  I went to high school and college with Andre and his siblings, and I may have had an inkling about how bright Andre was but never fully understood his genius.  The man is brilliant.  Below he is standing next to his apple press, and in the picture above Gavin is peeking out from the middle of it.  Where does one acquire a thing like that?  How does he have the faintest idea what to do with it when it breaks?  

We were invited to his second or third annual apple bash (my name for it, certainly not his), and we're so glad that we went.  Kids and adults were picking apples, cutting apples, coring apples, eating apples (especially Gavin, which caught up with him later, unfortunately) and pressing apples to make the most amazing apple cider you've ever tasted.  We passed around a community cup to sample the goods, and Andre bottled up lots of the yummy juice.  They'll sell some and keep some for their family.

You can imagine how much my boys loved participating in the fun with apples.  This cool gadget made apple rings, and then there was a crew of people putting those rings on screens where the apples would dry.  What a memorable and an eye-opening experience for my kids (and for me).  They talk about Mr. Andre with surprising frequency considering that they've only seen his face three times in their lives.  Neat to think about influence in this regard...