Sunday, October 07, 2012

A Day on the Farm

Though it was a COLD and BLUSTERY day, my sister, BIL and I took my niece to a nearby farm that offers special events during the fall, including hayrides, corn mazes and a plethora of other activities for kids. In the past we have always spent an afternoon at Epelgaarden. However, everything was on an accelerated schedule this year, and by the time they were able to clear a weekend, the apples were all gone. So, we decided to try Schuster's Farm this year. Here are a few pics from yesterday.


This is what the sky looked like all day--dense cloud cover that occasionally looked like it wanted to rain or snow, though no precipitation was forecast. The day's high was 48F, but felt much colder with sustained winds at 12mph and gusts up to 25mph. We had freeze warnings both early Satuday and Sunday mornings, as temps dipped below freezing overnight.


My niece, bundled up for the cold. Don't you love the Smurf hat? *g*


In the activity area, there were a variety of slides, a jumping pillow, barrel train, corn ball, and miniature golf--among other things.


Jumping pillow. I had never heard of or seen these before, but the kids loved it.


In the barnyard there were a variety of chickens (hens and roosters). There were also supposed to be ducks and turkeys, which we did not see.


We did see a donkey, two llamas, about a dozen goats, rabbits and some kittens.


View of a nearby farm.


Walking through one of the corn mazes. Notice how short and scraggly the corn is this year due to the drought. My sister is only 5 foot 2 inches and was taller than the corn in some places. Usually it should be well over all our heads and a lot denser.


Schuster's actually has three corn mazes. We only did the small and intermediate ones. The large one takes an hour to an hour and a half, and we were already quite cold by this time and getting hungry. We even skipped the hayride this year.


And, of course, there are pumpkins of all shapes and sizes available for purchase. One may also buy corn shocks, hay bales and decorative corn. Inside the farm store there are baked goods, caramel apples, and hot chocolate or cider. There is also a concession stand near the activity area.





6 comments:

Jana said...

The Bug is so cute and grown up! LOVE the smurf hat. I kinda want one. ;-)

Sounds like ya'll had fun. Too bad I can't talk my sister and her dh into letting me tag along when they go do stuff like this. BIL (Goofus) says, "We want it to just be a family day." Because obviously, I'm not family. *rolls eyes*

Love, love the owl-o-lantern at the end there. :)

Heather said...

Jana: Isn't that a cute hat? There was a little bot that had an awesomely cute badger hat, too.

They do a lot of family stuff just the three of them, but we do try to do something together at least once a season.

I loved the owl, too. I wish I'd had a chance to check out some of the other jack-o-lanterns they had on display.

This is a fun place to go with kids, and they even offer specials for birthday parties. The corn maze was fun, but I do NOT think I would like doing that at night. They tell you to bring a flashlight and I hear there may be things that jump out at you.

Alice Audrey said...

Oh, Smurf. That's what it is.

The corn maze we used to go to closed down permanently. They tried to turn into a fun park and missed.

Heather said...

LOL...Yup. That be a Smurf. Or more precise, Smurfette.

Sorry your nearby corn maze closed.

kayerj said...

looks like a fun day.

Heather said...

Thanks, Kaye, it was--though after three hours out in that cold wind, we were all glad to get indoors where it was warm!