Our family has been visiting the Olmenhorst Orchard for several years now. In September or October, we take a trip out to the countryside near Lisserbroek, and we pick a few bags of apples. And we take a lot of pictures in the process. It's a fun, folksy, fall thing to do. But it also serves as an interesting measuring stick for our kids' growth and development. Looking at pictures of them doing the same activity at the same location at the same time of the year, from year to year, it's really clear to see how they've changed through the years.

Here are a couple of pictures from earlier today (in 2011):

But look at how different those kids are from just two years previously, in 2009:

Or from 2008:

Or from 2006:

Or from 2005:

Crazy how time flies, isn't it? Crazy... and kind of beautiful, too.