Apple Day!

Last Saturday, we set out for a fun day of apple picking! We drove up to Longmont in search of a fun apple orchard. A friend of mine from work had told me about Wide Horizon Farms. It is a small farm that was featured on 9 News because, despite the drought, they had an overabundance of apples this year. She had taken her family there a couple of weeks ago and said they had a great time. Wide Horizon Farms does not have a website or phone number. I could only find their address online. So we put it in the GPS and off we went! 

As we approached, my phone's GPS could not find the address. So we tried Mark's and it seemed to be leading us down this road...

We were a little leery, but decided to head down anyways. We saw a few rows of apple trees ahead, but as we got closer, we did not see ANY apples. There was no sign to tell us if we were at the right place, but we did see a man in a truck. So we stopped to ask him if this, was indeed, Wide Horizon Farms. He said it was and he said to hop on out. We were ready to turn around and leave being that we still had yet to see any apples on his trees. 

When we got out of the car, he told us, "It's a little like an Easter Egg Hunt out there." And that it was. But he was the cutest little old man with cotton in his ear, and we just couldn't leave him now. He kindly showed us where to find some apples and how to pick them and then he went on his way. 

We were the only ones there so we spent 30 minutes or so "hunting for apples" and goofing around in the trees! 

The trees were the perfect height for the boys to grab and pull apples right off! 

It took awhile to find ones that were big enough and didn't have any worm holes in them. 

But the boys LOVED carrying their buckets around and finding some yummy apples. 

Brooks and I hung out and he held onto this apple...too cute! 

He wanted to eat the leaf! 

Auntie Mal and I wore flip flops...style over practicality...total Chicago girls! Mark thought we were silly! 

Love his serious apple picking face! 

Mark and Nolan walked up and down the rows searching for good ones. 

Heath and Auntie were apple picking partners. 

Many apples were munched on at the orchard...BEFORE purchase! 

Look at how tiny some of them were! 

We put Brooks on these hay bails! He was NOT a fan! 

The apples were only a dollar a pound. And we only picked 3 pounds! So it was a cheap but fun excursion. That night we used the apples to bake an apple crisp for Brooks' Dedication luncheon. Thanks to Martha Stewart for the yummy recipe! 

Being that this wasn't exactly the Apple Orchard experience that we had been hoping for, although fun, we decided to head over to another apple orchard that my friend Rachel from Women's Group had told me about. It was also in Longmont and it was only about 10 minutes away.

Ya Ya's Apple Orchard

Now this is a FARM...they even have a sign! Ha! 

And plenty of animals! 

This horse was HUGE! The boys, and Auntie Mal, were a little afraid of him, he was SO big! They didn't want to touch him. 

But they loved all the other animals. This turkey was cute! 

There were some smaller horses too. 

Mallory was even scared of the small ones. 

I loved watching her tentatively check them out! 

 This poor horse was missing it's eye!

The boys loved all the scarecrows! 

Mallory snapped this rare photo of Mark and I! I love the rustic barn in the background. 

Farm fun! 

This picture is so Heath...mischievous!

This one is for Laura...Heath made friends with the donkeys! 

Nolan found a big orange pumpkin hiding here.

We had yummy apple cider donuts! 

  

And we took a family hay ride. When Nolan climbed up he just plopped right down on the ground in the middle of the hay wagon! We had to explain to him to sit on the bales of hay around the edges. He loved sitting all by himself and thought the ride was so cool! 

Heath sat with Mommy.

And Brooks sat with Daddy. The views were gorgeous! 

After the ride we took a few more photos. Nolan kept wanting to be in all the shots! But then was squinting so bad from the sun!

He finally let us snap a sister shot without him. I think it is a framer! 

We had such a fun day and I love creating new and fun experiences for my boys! And we were so happy that Auntie was there to do it with us! 

Thanks Auntie Mal for always making it a priority to spend your vacation time to come see US! We sure love you tons and missed you the second you left! Counting down the days until Christmas!!!