Outnumbered: Orchard day!

We discovered a new favorite orchard on Saturday. The day was beautiful, just perfect for an orchard outing. We decided to try a new place this year since we are always on the hunt for places that are enjoyable for the kids, but not overwhelming in terms of crowds or prices. After a quick online search, we chose Honey Hill Orchard in Waterman. It was wonderful!

Right off the bat, Erik was happy because our route out took us along Illinois-30, which runs parallel to train tracks the entire way. A few "diggers" here and there made William happy and Anna delighted in pointing out every porch or farm stand with a pumpkin. Arriving happy = day already a success.

We overshot Waterman Road by a touch since it's one of these crazy roads that have a different name at different places. Unexpectedly, there was no giant sign pointing us in the right direction, and the sign at the farm was just the smallest little painted wooden apple sign. That's okay. We like understated.

Anna brought Scout, her classroom's pet bear.
This weekend was her turn to bring him home.
He seems to want a piece of her donut!

Because we had already spent our morning in lazy Lego building, it was lunchtime once we arrived. So, we headed straight for the bakery's apple cider doughnuts. Oh. My. Such deliciousness!

Then it was time to check out the fun stuff. I just LOVE the fact that they have a small kids area, but it doesn't cost anything extra. There are two hay mazes and a petting zoo. It's not the buffet of fun that other orchards have, but everyone in our group was happy. Climbing stuff, yummy stuff, and furry stuff. Good enough for us!

William really liked the pigs.

On to the apples: we bought our bag to fill and waited for the short tractor wagon ride to the right tree row for the day's picking. Erik and Anna were excited enough by the idea of the tractor ride that they insisted on waiting for a ride, even though walking to the right spot would have been just as fast. William, unfortunately, hated the wagon ride idea. He loves, loves, loves all things trucks, but not big, close, moving ones, apparently. I cuddled him into riding, but we decided to walk back when we were done picking instead of traumatizing him further.

No lasting harm done, William loved eating the apples and exploring the trees, as did his brother and sister. They were all very good at finding just the right apples. The apples themselves were amazing. Very sweet and very, very large. (Somewhere today, I saw a recipe for an apple pie baked in the apple. I think I have the perfect apples if I can only find that recipe!)

Anna, a lover of all berries, was so very excited that Honey Hill had not just apples to pick, but raspberries, too. Just a few days ago, she told me she will be a berry farmer when she grows up. I'm always happy to see how very content all three kids seem when we are out in the natural world, so I wouldn't be surprised if she does indeed do something in the great outdoors.

Of course, between the doughnuts, the apples and the berries we had eaten, we were all very full and very happy by this time. The kids wanted a bit more time to play. William insisted on looking at the pigs and rabbits again. So, we let them get out the wiggles before the ride home. It was a great outing at a wonderful place. Erik wants to go back to see if their apple pie is as good as the donuts, so we will be back, I'm sure.

They are all looking at the camera and smiling. Wow!
(And could the sky have been any more gorgeous?)

If just being out in a beautiful day at a beautiful place wasn't enough, since returning, Erik has been recreating the orchard in a Lego tableau. As always, his attention to detail is impressive. I think Anna allowed the appropriation of her Lego trees for the scene since she's been busy making a Lego house larger and larger.

Anna and William made short work of the raspberries for lunch today. As always, I think they eat with the most enthusiasm those things they help harvest or prepare.

If I had a bit more time, I would look up pictures of all our annual apple picking outings every year since Erik was a baby. It's become an annual tradition for us and one we all enjoy very much. Yum!