The days are growing shorter, the nights a little chillier. Out on our evening walks along the dark glade of the Muddy River, Jordan is beginning to yawn in his stroller as the sun sets beyond the trees. Baby’s first fall has arrived, and we kick off the season with an early morning visit to Smolak Farms in North Andover - my favorite spot for picking fruit, visiting farm animals, and enjoying a delicious dozen of cinnamon-sugared cider donuts paired with a hot cup of cider. Jordan does passably well on his longest car ride yet (45 minutes!), though it is obvious that in his current exploratory, late-infancy stage, he much prefers to be crawling around on the ground than sitting patiently in a car seat or attached to Mommy in his baby carrier. After I grab a box of donuts and and pair of breakfast sandwiches (the Farmhand Sandwich: one of the tastiest things I’ve eaten in New England!), we tour Jordan around the farm zoo, saying hello to the ducks, the geese, the resident peacock, goats and alpacas, and our favorite pot-bellied pig. We return to Boston in the mid-morning, and Jordan takes a nap on the ride home (with binky assistance).
