Eckert’s

A Peek Inside the Eckert’s Holiday Open House

Today (and tomorrow) is the annual Eckert’s Holiday Open House. This has become one of the most-anticipated events of the year in our household…for me, because I love seeing all of the new items (like Stonewall Kitchen Holiday Jam), and buying some old favorites (like pumpkin butter and apple cider), and for the children, because they love sampling everything from jams and jellies to dips to fruit and even turkey!

If you’ve never been to Eckert’s, you’re missing out. When Ryan and I first lived in St. Louis when we were newly married, we made the trip across the river to Illinois to go apple picking at Eckert’s in the fall. Who knew we’d end up living so close to the orchard and be able to bring our children “out to the farm” so often?

One of the main draws at Eckert’s is the bakery.

So many kinds of pie!

And fudge…

There’s a butcher counter…

And you can have a gift basket made…

Different kinds of popcorn…

And treats galore!

It’s especially fun to be there during the Open House, because it’s all decorated so beautifully for Christmas, from the Country Store to the Garden Center!

In addition to the many samples the children tried, there was also a craft area set up in the Garden Center, with several different activities from which to choose. By the bakery, they also able to to try their hands at icing a sugar cookie with their initials…fun and delicious! I like collecting all of the recipes that are scattered throughout the store (tonight’s dinner of apple butter pork chops is one such recipe)…one of these days, I’m actually going to buy the new Eckert Family Fall Cookbook. It’s always fun to spend an afternoon at Eckert’s, whether we’re out in the apple orchard or pumpkin patch, or exploring all the Country Store has to offer!

At the Pumpkin Patch 2012

Today, after Moose was done with school, we went on our annual family trip to the pumpkin patch.

It was a beautiful day for a tractor ride…just the right amount of chilly, and nice and bright.

Everyone had fun looking for a pumpkin, and everyone found one before we left.

When it was all said and done, we had over 40 pounds of pumpkins in the back of our van!

Even Chickadee got a little baby pumpkin of her own.

It was another fun afternoon at our favorite pumpkin farm!

At The Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trek to the Eckert’s pumpkin patch this weekend, in search of the “Great Pumpkin.” Actually, four great pumpkins. And if you want to be really particular, five, because the children insisted that we get a small pumpkin for Baby, too!

For some reason, even though the weather was beautiful, they were using buses to shuttle happy pumpkin and apple pickers back and forth to the field and the orchard. They were offering, however, a tractor ride just to tour the farm, so we started with that. It ended up being a pretty long ride, and we saw some parts of the farm that we don’t normally get to see, so it was really fun.

Along the way, we saw some baby fruit trees, (I have no idea if they’re peach trees or apple trees at this point), growing and waiting to become part of the orchard.

We also saw some baby Christmas trees, just waiting to grow up and fulfill their Christmas destiny.

It’s a beautiful farm, complete with several ponds, and a beautiful farmhouse. It’s obvious why the family originally chose that property for their home!

After the tractor ride, we headed for the bus to go to the pumpkin patch. This was another long ride, and we saw some areas of the farm I’m 100% certain I didn’t even know were there. It was a kind of weird way to ride out to the field–the only other time we’ve gone by bus was on a cold, damp day–but it was still fun “sightseeing” along the way!

The pumpkin picking itself didn’t really go so well. Turkey and Bunny did finally find pumpkins that suited them, (each was just over 13 pounds!), but there were no pumpkins small enough for Moose and Ladybug. Our rule is that you have to pick a pumpkin that you can carry, and while they can usually find some under five pounds in the field, for some reason that didn’t work this year. So they had to choose their pumpkins in the country store, but to be honest, I don’t think they really cared.

It was a fun day, and the weather was beautiful. The sun may have been a little too bright, though–I couldn’t get a picture of all four of them where somebody didn’t have his or her eyes closed, no matter which direction I had them facing!

At the Apple Orchard

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Eckert’s fun farm and apple orchard in Millstadt, IL. This yearly event has become a favorite family activity!

We finally got to see the Jack-O-Lobber, (a giant pumpkin cannon) in action!

Turkey was even chose to go up on stage and help. I think it was the highlight of his week!

The pumpkins shot out of the cannon so fast, all I could get a picture of was smoke, so you’ll just have to trust me–they were super fast, and when they exploded on impact, it was pretty cool!

The children got to go on some fun rides–even Moose tried them all out, even though he was a little reluctant at first.

Of course, the highlight of the afternoon was the tractor ride out to the orchard.

We picked, (and ate), some very delicious, (if you’ll pardon the pun!), apples.

And we got lost in the corn maze (or, as it’s known around here, the maize maze!). This is what happens when Ryan sends me in alone with the children, and Turkey leads the way. At least we finally found our way out–after following another family that actually seemed to have a clue. What can I say? I have very little pride left!

It was a beautiful, fall-like day to be there, and we all had a great time!