Butler's Orchard

Even though Evelyn went to Butler's Orchard on a field trip this past Wednesday, we had always planned to go there as a family this fall. Since the weather couldn't have been more perfect (sunny, low 70s), we headed over there this afternoon.

Before I go on, I need to mention how our family misses two October events from Dallas: the Arboretum and the State Fair. We were members of the Arboretum, and we went there several times in the fall - photo ops of Evelyn, the pumpkin patch, evening concerts etc. If you have ever been to Texas' state fair, it goes without saying why we miss that. Going to Butler's Orchard this afternoon helped us feel a little less homesick for those Texas fall festivities.

Our first stop was the "hay loft" - a farm building filled with loose hay and bales of hay. After getting over the initial feel of hay on her skin, Evelyn was cooperative enough to take this picture with Julia.
Evelyn went down a giant slide twice - once with Mommy and once with Daddy. Daddy got the hang of using the burlap sack better than Mommy, so Evelyn enjoyed that ride more. Then we ate our picnic lunch in the shade of a tree. Since we were right next to the corn maze, it only made sense to do that next. Evelyn had us going all over the place, probably because she couldn't see the flag in the middle of the maze (the goal). Since Evelyn loves to run, she loved the corn maze! Eventually, we made it to the middle of the maze.

Our next stops were jumping in a bounce house, checking out farm animals like chickens and pigs, running (yes! more running!) through a hay maze, and, finally, a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch and back. It didn't take Evelyn long to find a pumpkin for us to take home. She is picky when it comes to finding a pumpkin, and, as expected, she chose wisely again this year. While there, the only times we sat down were during lunch and the tractor ride, so three of us were completely exhausted after three hours. Can you guess who was still kicking (literally) as we headed to our car? Yep - that would be Julia.