Apple Pickin',Apple Crispin', Apple Eatin',Apple Launchin' and some Corn Too

It's hard to beat one of our favorite traditional fall places to go--The Oil Ranch in Texas, with all the fun that comes with it, but I think we found our new favorite place here in Illinois. We found an apple orchard nearby that made for a great family outing. Jonamac's Orchard is a pumpkin patch and apple orchard that offers some great outdoor activities for the kids. They also had apple doughnuts, apple pies, hand made caramel apples and apple pizzas in their bakery. We heard raving reviews about their apple doughnuts so we bought a dozen apple doughnuts and gobbled them up.

 The kids enjoying an extra large rocking chair.

 They played on bails of hay. We got their early so we had the place to ourselves for awhile. 

 Spencer in a tunnel of hay.

 If you look closely there is more than one kid in this picture. I was just the oblivious mom documenting the day. Believe it or not, this kid was stuck and his feet were dangling. Now this one makes me laugh thinking back on it.

 Fun bumpy slides to go down.

 Bike riding on fun dirt paths. Sydney's face is awesome here. You should zoom in to have a look for yourself.

 Old fashion school rooms to play in. 

 Water pump pipes and rubber duckies to race down the tubes.

 Petting zoos

My personal favorite was the corn pit. I never knew corn could be such a great massager on my socked feet! The kids had a blast in here. 

 Buried in corn

 Corn souvenirs in the ears

 Spence kept burying his head in the corn and was happy to have a few kernels stuck to his face.

 Jumping pillows

 I thought this one of Shayla jumping was cute.

 Spencer's dive

 After playing we went apple picking. The day was perfect!

 Shayla with one of the apples she picked

Apple sampling 

 After apple picking we went to the apple launcher.

 These were some of the targets

On the Apple Train 

I loved this one -- seeing the back of Shayla's head as she rode off in her own train cart. She's my baby and she's growing up! It was a weird moment for me! Jeff and I kidless as we waited for the train to return.

 Jeff with the kids at the corn maze. This was our last event for the day before we headed home.

There's something about peeling your own picked apples to make an apple dessert. It made me wish I had my own apple orchard in my back yard! And speaking of apple desserts, my favorite one is apple crisp. I love crisps because of the oats, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon mixture that is sprinkled on top. The smells that fill the house are...oh...so...good! Jeff was my apple peeling buddy and this is how our apple crisp looked before we let the oven work its magic.

Now the only thing that was missing here is a couple scoops of Blue Bells Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream! We had to settle for another brand this round : ).