Fall fun

Not too long ago, the Sooy kids met up with their cousin for some fall farm fun.  We went to the kids' favorite local farm to go apple and pumpkin picking.

Sean was happy to help his cousin pick apples:

The Sooys picked two full pecks of apples (we still have a few apples left) and they were happy to keep picking for their cousin, too.  Soon we moved over to the pumpkin patch where the kids went wild in among the pumpkin plants, deciding which pumpkin to pick.

Sean was so nice and gentle with his little cousin while Clare was so happy to have someone to direct around the pumpkin patch :-)

It was a fun day!

Picking

On Father's Day this year,we took Daddy to our favorite farm to pick cherries, strawberries, and BLUEBERRIES!

Waiting for the hayride:

First stop, cherries! It was the last week for cherries, so it was literally slim-pickings but we got enough cherries to satisfy Clare.

Next up was blueberries. Sean showed us that if you want blueberries in a hurry, then he's your man!  The kid is a natural.

And our last stop was strawberries.  Again, it was the last week for strawberries so we really had to look hard for "good" strawberries and Clare was up to the task...

After all that hard work, we stopped for ice cream of course!

Egg Hunt

Happy Easter!  Last weekend, we took the kids to our favorite farm for a hayride and egg hunt.  The hayride seemed a little long since it was pretty darn cold outside but it afforded us a view of the orchards and fields where our CSA produce will come from this summer :-)

The promise of eggs and/or candy kept the kids motivated:

The egg hunt was pretty simple:  the Easter Bunny stumbled on his way to the farm and his basket of eggs spilled everywhere!  In his basket were five colors of plastic eggs - red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.  Each child was asked to find ONE of each color and bring them back to the farmer so that the farmer could bring the eggs back to the Bunny.  Sean set off at record pace and Clare took her time...

Sorting out the eggs before receiving a good bag of prizes for her "help!"

The kids celebrate their hard work:

A peek at the strawberry fields under white tarp.  The farmer told us that strawberries used to be called redberries and were kept warm in the fields under a layer of straw.  Now, the berries are kept warm under a layer of white tarp - the farmer asked if we should call them "white tarp-berries?" And the kids in the crowd gave a hearty "No!"

After the chilly hayride back to the farm store, we took the kids inside to sit with the Easter Bunny:

And on the car ride home, Clare got into her prize bag and decorated herself with stickers :-)

Santa and Lights

We went to our favorite nearby farm to have a visit with Santa and go on a Christmas lights hayride.  First, we visited with Santa Claus - Sean was more than happy to sit with Santa and chat:

Clare was not as excited:

But she eventually edged her way up to the tractor and had a short conversation with Santa :-)

After seeing Santa, we went on a Christmas light hayride - the tractor was covered in lights and played music on a speaker.  The lights and music were even synched up!  The tractor took us around the orchards and fields to see some great light displays.

Just Peachy

We took the kids to our favorite nearby farm to pick peaches last week!

We lined up and waited patiently for the hayride ... so patiently:

Clare and Daddy on the hayride out to the orchard:

Photobomb!

This year's crop is a booming, apparently.  The kids filled up 4 bags (2 whole pecks) in about, oh, six or seven minutes.

The kids picking:

Handsome daddy picking:

Once we'd finished picking, we hopped back on the hayride and took a tour of the apple orchards to preview next month's crop!

There was a performance of "Alice in Wonderland" at the main farm area. Daddy and Clare stayed to watch while Sean and Mommy went to check out the rope maze...

...the giant tires...

...and the petting zoo!  Look at these baby goats!

After Sean had his fill of the animals and Clare had her fill of the play, we went to the playground:

Rock climbing with my babies:

And after all that fun, we had some dinner and ice cream:

With full bellies, good memories, and a whole bunch of peaches, we went home.  The next morning I got to work on the peaches - I froze a bunch, made peach-blueberry pancakes, and peach-basil jam.