The Orchard

Yesterday was a perfect Fall day - buckets of sunshine with just the slightest breath of a cool breeze every now and then, along with the views of newly turning leaves with colors of yellow, orange, plum and red. After all the rain storms and dreary days of the past week, yesterday seemed like the start of something new. We Adolphson's felt it was the start of a healthier family! Ella was feeling much better and was down to just a couple of preventative nebulizer treatments a day, and Claire seemed to be a little perkier as well. So we decided to take advantage of this fantastic day and headed out to the Apple Jack Orchard!






When the girls piled out of the van, they were thrilled to see so many fun activities!







We started at the pumpkin patch











Then we headed over to the land of the giant pumpkins. The Orchard was sponsoring a contest for the local pumpkins that had reached the morbidly obese stage of growth. These things were massive!











Then it was time for a Cow Train ride. Oh, so cute and so fun!







While the little girls were on their ride around the strawberry patch, Farmer Carl had to check out the field. After kicking the crop around awhile, he gave it his nod of approval.







Then it was time for the biggest event of the day . . . the corn maze. This corn maze is not for the faint-of-heart. It was 5 acres of corn with a intricate design cleared out for it's adventurists. A small map was provided along with some clues to help you out along the way.







We started out with our spirits high, but soon found out that this would be a challenging venture . . . and the deluxe travel system stroller was not helping our cause at all.







. . . but Claire didn't seem to mind the bumpy ride too much :)







After many, "I think we're lost" and "Are we ever going to find our way out?" comments, Carl's map-reading skills paid off when he led us out of the sea of corn!







After our big victory, we decided to head over to the big red barn for a fresh hand-dipped Carmel apple.







Victory is sooooo sweet







We sat down in the shade on the river's bank and enjoyed every bite.








Then we were off to see what else the Orchard had to offer.





















Ella took a ride on a pony that looked almost identical to Jocie's old pony, Jasper. It made me wish he was still around for the other two girls. We miss him.







Before we left, we hit up the gift shop and bought enough Honey Crisp apples to last us for a while. Washington apples have nothing on a Minnesota Honey Crisp (yes John and Beth - that is a challenge!!).










This little day trip was much needed for us all. It gave us a chance to have a little family fun after all of our yucky illnesses. I can't tell you how healing it was for me to watch my family have fun during the best season of the year. Thank you Apple Jacks Orchard!