The mornings are crisp, the sun is setting differently, and fall decorations are popping in store windows! For those Starbucks lovers out there, if the Pumpkin Spiced Lattes have graced us once again … it must be FALL!! I Love this time of year! Everything about cooler weather and the many fun holidays approaching just brings me so much joy! I grew up with a very hands on Mom and she loved creating fun family traditions for all of us. I have such fond childhood memories of how unique and special she made each holiday season and now that I am a Mommy and I have two daughters, I too strive to create fun memorable traditions for our little family!
One of our favorite fall traditions is making a day trip to a farm and picking pumpkins! Last year we visited Freeman Farms. It was such a cute family owned farm with a train, pony rides, horse shows, tractor rides, a small vintage merry go round and (my kid’s favorite) a petting zoo! My hubby and I took the girls up there to Chino Valley to enjoy the temperature and play for the day! It was definitely a great experience, they have the most beautiful and sunflower FOREST I have ever seen! We will for sure be returning in the future! If you are hoping to go up north this season check out their Pumpkin Festival. They offer a discount if you first purchase your wristbands online here!
This year my oldest daughter’s preschool had a field trip to Tolmachoff farms! This is a local farm…by us… on the west side! It was such a fun trip! The kiddos got to walk through the corn maze and learn about how it is grown and processed. Then they got to pick fresh produce from the fields. We were able to go home with 6 cucumbers, 3 HUGE zucchini and some radishes all seasonal picks! We also got to each choose a small pumpkin! After being in the fields they got to ride the animal barrel train and pet the many animals. My older daughter didn’t want to leave the baby piglet or the bunny, and my younger one had a blast feeding hay and feed to the ponies and goats! It was a great day and I really recommend visiting them! If you don’t have a preschool option you can get a group of 20 people together and can schedule your own tour OR for a fun family outing, you can get a discount coupon for general admission here!
We have thoroughly enjoyed visiting and experiencing both farms, and love our day trips out to them! If you want to do something fun with the kiddos this fall then definitely check one of them (or BOTH) out 🙂
Now for the YUMMY part!
After we returned home with our large zucchinis I immediately started to search the web for a FANTASTIC zucchini muffin recipes! I found this one on Pinterest of course 😉 Because it has sour cream in the mix, the muffins remain so fresh and don’t dry out as quickly. The girls and I had fun making something delicious out of our produce pickings from the farm! We froze all but a few of the muffins and have been enjoying them each morning… the recipe really is amazing and our frozen muffins defrost on the counter or microwave so well while still tasting just as fresh as the day we baked them!
Here is the wonderful blog I got the recipe from! Thank you Grassy Branch Farm for sharing your zucchini muffin wisdom with us! Check our their family farm blog for more amazing recipes and tutorials!!
