I think this past Sunday afternoon will be a memory that I cherish deep in my heart for a very long time. It was so filled with JOY and BEAUTY and PEACE … and FUN. I picked the grandchildren up and we drove over to Schwallier's Country Basket over on 9 Mile and Alpine. It officially has a Sparta address, but it's not a long drive at all.
We had visited 2x last fall, both times an after-school afternoon. I figured it would be crowded here on a weekend, but decided to take a chance anyway. Oh my! Had I known that 5 million other people would be here, I'm not sure I would have come. But thankfully, after waiting almost 20 minutes just to find parking, we jumped out of my car and … well, we had the time of our lives.
Naturally, we fed the goats first!
Everyone got in on the action … these kiddos never get tired of this kind of activity. I'm so glad. It's so good for them!
Look at their beautiful, happy faces! I just love them so much.
We also took a stroll through the orchard. The air and beauty was simply delicious.
We went inside the nice shop where they sell everything from apples to Halloween decor, but most wanted was the fresh-baked donuts … oh, but the LINE to wait for them was SO LONG! So, I got in line and sent the kiddos back out to play. Thankfully, they came back just as I was finally (!!) up to the donut counter and were able to order their own donuts … all but Christopher, who was still out playing. We picked out a donut for him anyway ...
Pictured above is Christopher eating his donut … well, he's getting ready to lick the wrapper the donut was in that he'd just gobbled up. An hour later, he didn't remember having ever had a donut … but he did!
There was a nice haystack to climb ...
So, of course … it was climbed!
And all of the kiddos enjoyed this water/rubber duck play area ...
They played here forever!
We took an absolutely FREE wagon ride out in the fields, not realizing that there was a corn maze out there where they were dropping folk off and picking others up. Not everyone opted for the corn maze, being that it was $6/person. The kiddos weren't overly interested in that anyway … so we just rode the wagon back through the orchard.
It wasn't a thrilling ride or anything, but it was just a nice relaxing experience.
A place like this is such a great photo opportunity … I took over 270 pictures!
Emma wanted to walk through the pumpkin patch ...
Emma looked so lovely in this setting … she is a beautiful young girl, isn't she?
The kiddos had seen this funny "cow train" zooming by as we were visiting and they wondered if they could ride it! We decided to check on the cost and since it was only $2/each, we (meaning ME) got in line to wait while the kiddos played nearby ...
I gave Emma my camera and asked her to follow the boys and snap a few pictures. She did an excellent job with my camera!
Chris and Matthew played inside this small silo-type thing filled with corn kernels … as well as lots of other children ...
I love this picture of Matthew!
And this one of Chris too!
Emma loves cats and kittens … so she snapped this little calico's picture a few times ...
And then, after about a 30-minute wait, it was their turn to ride!
Emma rode on a cow named "Margie", Christopher's was "Suzie-Q", and Matthew's was "Queenie."
Aren't these the cutest pictures?!!
The 11-car cow-train was pulled by some type of 4 x 4 vehicle, and the driver liked to go F-A-S-T!!!
I was cracking up watching them zoom around in this crazy contraption! They told me they had a blast.
And afterwards, we couldn't possibly leave without visiting the bunny-rabbits, now could we?
These bunnies were SO SOFT!
Oh! I almost forgot the tube slide! There was such a crowd around this when we first arrived that we didn't bother with it; but later on, the crowd thinned out a bit to where the boys enjoyed themselves hugely.
What a wonderful time we had together. I'm so thankful for days like this, and for digital photography that can capture it so that I will be able to look back, even many years from now, with joy on this day.
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