Living in Chicago, I would have to pick summer as my favorite season. Why? Because it’s the opposite of winter. And winters in Chicago are just brutal. I try to talk Charlie into moving somewhere every winter.
My second favorite season in Chicago is fall. I love seeing the leaves change to rich, beautiful colors. And since having Luke, I look forward to doing all the fun fall stuff…you know apple picking, pumpkin patches, etc.
Last weekend we were in Lake Geneva visiting Charlie’s dad. (oh and yes, I am starting to love the Lake Geneva area). Instead of doing all the fall festival stuff in Chicago this year, we decided to celebrate our fall traditions in or around Lake Geneva, which is usually a visit to pumpkin patch and an apple orchard.
PEARCE’S FARM STAND IN WALWORTH, WI
We’ve been going to Pearce’s Farm Stand every year since Luke was 18 months old. I really like it because it’s not too crowded and there’s plenty of fun, simple things for Luke to do like running around the hay maze or picking out pumpkins.
I don’t know why it took us so long but this year we got the apple cider donuts from Pearce’s Farm Stand and I have to admit, they’re the best apple donuts I’ve ever had. My stomach is growling as I’m typing this. They were fresh and warm, made right there and tasted like donut perfection.
ROYAL OAK ORCHARD IN HARVARD, IL
We decided to go to Royal Oak Farm Orchard in Harvard, Illinois on the way home from Lake Geneva since we will be busy the rest of the month and knew that we may not have time to apple picking the rest of the season. When we got to Royal Oak Farm, it literally smelled like fresh apples. I wish I could bring that sweet smell home.
We went apple picking last year for the first time at County Line Orchard in Hobart, Indiana. I admit, I was hooked on apple picking since then and have been looking forward to apple picking all year. More of last year’s fun here.
We paid for our pecks and got on the wagon to take us around the orchard. It’s totally walkable but Luke really wanted to ride on the wagon so we sat on the wagon until it circled the whole orchard.
Thanks to my mom who got me hooked on Fuji apples, we went straight for the Fuji apples. The people at Royal Oak told us we would love also love the snow sweet apples if we also liked Fuji apples. So we picked some of those too. I love when we cut into the apples, they are so bright and and white on the inside. For me, that’s the perfect apple.
The weather on Sunday was perfect for apple picking though and regardless of where we were picking apples, Luke loves picking them. I still can’t believe that it was near 80 degrees during the first weekend in October. After after picking, we all enjoyed an apple cider slushy….yes, those exist! It was a perfect way to end our day.