October: Field Trip to Cox Farms

I have to admit I've always been a little skeptical of Cox Farms. A farm in Centreville, come on? I know a lot of people who've been there and heard mostly good things except for a few people who've mentioned it's pricey and too crowded on weekends.

Well, the week before Halloween we finally made our way to the infamous "Cox Farms." Chip was going to meet us, but the school ended up having to reschedule it due to rain, and he had a meeting on the rain date.  While we would have enjoyed having Daddy there, now that Daniel and Anabella are four, they are very manageable for one adult. (At least that was my thought at the beginning of the day!)

I was surprised, upon arriving, at how large the farm was. My cousin Lindsay had been there on a field trip with Caleb a few weeks before and she warned me it was a little "commercial" comparing it to none other than South of the Border (gasp!); and I suppose we Front Royal girls think alike, because I couldn't have put it any better myself.

There was nothing bad about Cox Farms; in fact, the kids had a blast as there was plenty to do, but there was just something a little cheesy about it.  Charlie Brown "commercial" is really the best way to put it.

I didn't take a ton of pictures because I was chasing around 2 four years old while lugging around a 50 pound backpack with some snacks, a few waters, a camera and the layers of clothes we all shed as it must have been a balmy 80 degrees by the time we (finally) left around 2pm.  We got there at 10am.

Anabella is a social butterfly. She quickly latched onto her friend Sara when we first got there and led her to the hayride where she told her "Sara, you can ride with me." 

See....told you- Charlie Brown "commercial!" There they are to prove it- this was one of the sights from the hayride, which I have to say was pretty entertaining. There were lots of fun little things set up along the way, not to mention a few huge mud holes where we'd get "stuck," which of course the kids just loved.

Here's one....uh oh, hold on, everybody! It's going to be bumpy! 

D0 you see Paul Bunyan over there? 

This was a troll who made us stop before crossing under his bridge. In order to proceed we had to do the following: front half of wagon had to act like monkeys while back half mooed like cows. heehee....then, of course, we got stuck in the mud underneath....oh no! 

Is that a lock-ness monster?
There were tricks around every corner. No going to sleep on this hay ride! 

The kids really enjoyed it. Never knowing what they were going to see next. 

Following the hayride, we followed some friends to this monster of a slide, which let me tell you after lugging that backpack up and down the hill and steps three times, just about had me ready to call this trip a day. Whew! It was fun, but man, I think next year I'll leave the backpack at home. Either that or park it somewhere and just trust that we live in a kind world, which honestly I'm sure I could have done and it would have been fine. Next time! 

After three times UP and down the monster slide, we went to this little fun (a.k.a. commercial) section where there were houses made by the Three Little Pigs and a bridge where this cute little troll was ordering me to not go across unless, of course, I followed his instructions.....it's amazing what they pick up and how fast! He was doing just what the troll on the hayride did just an hour before. We've read Three Little Pigs a hundred times, but after this I had to pull up the Three Billy Goats Gruff from the Internet as that's one fairy tale we've never read. Crazy, huh? Turns out, there's a cute little youtube video of it. Imagine that. And I'm talking about Cox Farms being "commercial!" Meanwhile, I pull up youtube to introduce my children to a fairy tale?!  

Meanwhile, while we were trying to get across the bridge, Anabella ran off into this brick house made by the third little pig and we all had to play like the wolf and try to blow the house in......cute, but commercial.....see? 

This was a small slide, one of like thirty. No kidding, this farm must have had 30 slides. A kid's dream! 

Dan liked trying out these "hogs"

They played in this little boat for the longest time with some school friends. Lots of pretend play to be had here. And, of course, another slide. Ok, on second thought, I think there were 50 slides. Nah, not that many. 

Lovely tree.
"Prettiest" picture I took all day! 

Now, that's a pig.
Oh my.
There were lots of animals exhibits.

Another fun slide. Long line for this one. They went up by themselves this time. Must have been at least a 15 minute wait for them to come down, and this was on a Monday. There were several field trip groups there. 

This was cool. All these prize pumpkins. Good grief, Charlie Brown, I have NEVER seen such big pumpkins in all my life! 

Apparently, the first and second place pumpkins were at the exit, but somehow we missed them. At least we got to see these, though. There was so much to see and do at this farm that you could almost go twice and still find new stuff to see and explore.

Not one of my best shots of these two....

This was another area where they stayed quite a while. 

Neither of them did very well holding onto this rope swing. Maybe next time.

Supposedly this corn maze was lots of fun, but it was later in the day when we passed it, and I couldn't coax them in....Daniel always says he doesn't like corn mazes. I don't know when he formed that opinion because I can't remember a time when he's been in one since he chose not to at Hartland last trip. Anabella walked through it with Daddy, but Daniel wanted to go back to the big trampoline. He's determined though, and at this point in the day I was tired and didn't have the energy to convince him otherwise. We'll save that for next trip. I hear it was "commercial" anyway. You know with little people standing around and stuff. Not your typical corn maze. So he probably would have liked it! 

Goat Village was full of.....goats.
Real ones who liked to be fed.
Imagine that.

Hey, what'daya know...there's Charlie Brown....it's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!
Unlike some of the other farms we've visited, everyone who left Cox Farms left with a pumpkin (or something they thought was a pumpkin).

I know these pictures are bad. My back was killing me at this point. Am I getting old? Daniel picked an acorn squash (which he called a pumpkin) and Anabella picked a small pumpkin which was incredibly bumpy and bruised, but hey, I wasn't arguing. 

Guess who carried the pumpkins (their two and my own).....plus the backpack that was about to break my back.....is it any wonder I don't have pictures of them with their pumpkins? I was lucky to make it to the van in one piece! 

Meanwhile, since they were carrying NOTHING, they couldn't not stop and try to stand in these gigantic feet.....seriously? 

Poor children never get the opportunity to sit in a real John Deere (ahem), so they both just had to take their turns in this lovely red "commercial" remake of a farm tractor....come on, guys, enough already...as I'm literally hunched over ready to pass out.....

I forgot to mention two of the best things about the day....besides all the great fun we had on the slides and all......FREE apple cider and apples! Yum! And.....kettle corn! Kettle corn wasn't free, but, hey, a farm that sells kettle corn, commercial or not, it's got my vote!

Woohoo, can't wait to go back to Cox Farms (in Centreville!) next year!!