We decided to spice up Labor Day 2014 with a little trip to the countryside. We had intended for it to be a family trip, but Nick had to bow out at the last minute because the hot water heater was leaking. So it ended up just being Nia and I.
After doing a bit of research we went with Great Country Farms in Bluemont Virginia, a little over an hour outside of DC. Key things I was looking for were honeycrisp apples, animals and kid-specific activities. This farm checked all the boxes (and then some).
We arrived at 10 AM and bee-lined it for the jumping pillow, a monstrosity that I have never before seen (that’s Nia jumping atop it). As you might imagine, it was hugely popular with the kiddo and we managed to get some quality time on it before the big kids arrived.
Next up was apple picking. We jumped aboard the wagon and headed out to the fields. Again, we did this relatively early in the day, so there were just a few of us out when we picked.
Nia found apple hunting to be a grand old game – she even managed to select some of our best apples!
She was quite awed by the vast landscape and took off to explore for a bit. So much of Nia’s life has been in densely-populated areas that it was refreshing to show her what open countryside felt like. I could tell she liked it, big time.  Iceland, here we come???
The hands-down favorite activity of the day was feeding the goats. We purchased a cup of feed and Nia meticulously doled out 1 pellet at a time to the impatient goats. She was very particular in her feeding, making sure each goat got an equal amount.
Here’s a short video of the Nia-meister doing her thing with her goats:
Given the immense popularity of this outing and the fact that orchard season is just starting up, I imagine we’ll make another 2-3 trips to various farms before the end of October. Â This makes Mama very happy, as apple-picking was one of my favorite annual traditions as a girl (shout out to Pine Tree Apple Orchard!) Â May Nia come to love it as much as I did!
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