Kick off to fall!

LD and I decided this would be a perfect weekend to kick off fall with a fun activity, even though its been close to 85 every afternoon!  Next weekend we are heading to Michigan for a very big weekend, so spending a calm day as a family sounded perfect!

 

We started the day off with pumpkin waffles and apple cider syrup, and I have to admit, I was incredibly proud of my morning culinary skills!  They were a huge hit! 

 

Then we headed to Aw, Shucks! pumpkin patch and corn maze.  We haven't been there before, but had heard great things, and its only about 20 minutes from our house.

Since it has just opened yesterday it looks like we were the only ones there and that is pretty close to accurate.  There were not many people and at all and it ended up being a great time!

Clare got to pick our first activity and chose a hay ride, which was Elle's very first hay ride!

We were the only ones on the ride and took the time to grab some pics.

I am always complaining that I am never in pics with the girls since I am always the one holding the camera, so I made sure we got some today!!

And of course some with daddy too!!

Next stop, the animal barn

where we fed all sorts of little farm animals.

As expected Elle was much less fearful of the animals than Clare.  Notice her, "I'm really not so sure about this face."

I was really excited for the corn maze, but it was HUGE.  Six acres and a super complicated maze.

So even though we started off great, it only was a matter of minutes before the girls were really over it.  LD did a great job of keeping out hike short, so we got the experience but didn't have complete meltdowns.

The little hike really wore the girls out.  They were exhausted! (side note: I want these swings at my house!!)

 

We had a yummy picnic lunch before we headed on to do more exploring!

This is one of the coolest slides I have ever seen.  Clare walked right up, no big deal, but by time she got to the bottom her eyes were so wide and she kept saying "I really don't want to do that again."  LD went down with Elle, who immediately jumped up and said "AGAIN!"

There were all sorts of unique, but simple things to play on like hay bales,

and tree stumps!

And there was a really tall tree house.  Clare was such a great big sister walking Elle up so she could play too!

I wasn't too thrilled of the tree house with Elle up there, so it was a quick play time before we moved on.

We had such a fun family day at Aw Shucks, and I have no doubt we will visit again before the end of the season!  Of course the day was ended with a Michigan football victory, dinner and a trip to Cook-out for ice cream.  Love, love, love these great Saturdays!!