How do you feel about Fall? Because by far, this is my absolute favorite season. It’s not TOO cold, it’s not too hot, and there’s no SNOW. The colors are beautiful (especially this year) and this is when we do ALL the festivities with our local family. We joke that we see each more than ever before in the Fall but come January, we’re all hunkered down in our homes ready to be recluses.

I think more than ever, keeping traditions alive is SO crucial to and for us. Especially with our KIDS. I mean sincerely, how sad a season has been the season of Covid?! They can’t go to school, they haven’t seen their classmates in over 250 days, and their life has been radically rocked—whether they can fully grasp it or not. Enter: all of this. Doing LIFE with some of our favorite people. Running and jumping and playing and being silly. Oh and indulging in ALL the apple cider donuts…And just to be safe, yes, all our kids (and us) wore masks, especially when around other people) and during all the activities. And there was plenty of hand washing afterwards ;)

This is the month we watched Hocus Pocus on a projector in our backyard, we all went to Boo at the Zoo together, we walked St. James Court in honor of the Art Fair that DIDN’T get to happen this year, and then obviously Gallrein’s Farm. It’s FALL, Y’all, and we are HERE for it. You know Asa is Buddy the Elf (except for all holidays, not just Christmas) so planning moments like this is his jam. Have you been to a pumpkin patch this season? What’s your favorite part? For me it’s the hay ride and just walking around the field admiring all the cute gourds. We go, we walk around, we snap some orchard photos, and then we buy all the donuts and enjoy every single bite. (I keep mentioning donuts but sadly I didn’t take a single picture of one this year?! Darn. It’s okay though, you know they’re freakishly delicious even if not photographed, right?)

“I am SO glad I live in a world where there are Octobers-” I mean, WHO cannot relate to Anne of Green Gables with this?!? SO much has been cancelled in our world. I am incredibly grateful the pumpkin patch DID NOT, and we were still able to enjoy these memories. We believe traditions are important. And we also believe being outdoors is a HUGE part of that. Kids need to breathe fresh air, they need to explore, and they need time with family. So what about you?? What things have YOU done this fall? Is there anything we need to add to our list of fun? Jot a comment and let us know! :) Oh and if you like looking back on memories like I do, you can see one of our previous Gallrein visits here! The kids have all grown SO much!!

One of our FAVORITE parts about fall is most definitely the festivities, and this year's apple picking outing was well worth a dedicated blog post. All you locals have heard of Huber's Farm, and while it's a beautiful farm with TONS to do, we try to avoid it this time of year because it's just SO swamped [and honestly for us, a little overdone.] We had never been to Boyd's Orchard in Versailles so when our friends Tim and Stephanie told us about it, we thought something new would be fun.

Versailles is about an hour drive for us, and traveling there we have to go directly through horse country. The kids excitedly pointed out EVERY horse and fancy barn they saw out their windows, and as usual when I head that way, my head just spun with dreams of someday owning my own farm. Anyway, back to more Orchard talk, I know that's what you're curious about!

Everything is really beautifully set up as soon as you arrive, and the kids obviously loved the giant chair. The store was packed with jams, and honey, and um, hello, FRESHLY BAKED CIDER DONUTS!!! I'm not going to lie, I was craving pumpkin donuts as well, but they weren't baking any the day that we went [I'm not sure if they do anyway?] One of my FAVORITE things about fall in Michigan [where I grew up] was the family market I grew up going to; they had the best cider and most delicious cake donuts in all varieties. We got a box of six cider donuts and they did not disappoint.

We took a tractor out to the apple trees and with our bags, walked down endless rows of beautiful apples. We had to remind the kids that this was not an Easter egg hunt and that they could not pick EVERY single apple...but they almost had as much fun as Easter because finding the BEST apples became a very thrilling game.

Who am I kidding? I basically wanted to go to the orchard with Reese's outfit in mind the ENTIRE time, and bless her heart, she endured a 70-degree morning in the sun to look cute picking apples in those overalls [sorry, I'm laughing over here.] But really, she and Pierson had a blast. We paid for the wrist bands and they went down a giant slide, jumped on inflatable trampolines, [I jumped and did my first front flip in YEARS, ssshhh], and we went through the corn maze. The corn maze was Asa's idea, and at that point, the kids were melting down with exhaustion and in need of lunch so we were RUNNING through that thing and I absolutely regretted starting it--however, by the end, everyone was laughing, and we were even MORE ready for a good lunch and some cold cider ;)

Tim and Steph are complete troopers by the way, for doing live with us. Our kids are 4 and 5-years old, and nothing short of magical, easy to hang out with, and totally NOT demanding children. Oh wait, is that YOUR KIDS?!?! Because it ain't mine!!!!!! I'm half kidding- I LOVE our kids, duh. But doing things and outings like this takes work for everyone involved, and I'm just really grateful that these two want to be a part of the crazy.

Anyway, here are some more fun photos from our trip, really and truly, we had a great day!

If you live in Kentucky [or may be here visiting friends/family] I definitely recommend going to Eckert's Boyds Orchard. From Louisville to Versailles is a GORGEOUS drive, and a day spent out in the country is ALWAYS a day well spent. Period.

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me! Where has been YOUR favorite orchard/pumpkin patch to go to??