Apple Picking at Terhune Orchards

'Tis the season!

Fall is my tippy-top favorite season of the year.  I can't wait to see the tree leaves changing colors.  I can't wait for any type of food that could potentially contain pumpkin.  I love slipping into my boots, a pair of leggings and an oversized sweatshirt.  So that's pretty much how I'm rolling around these parts.

Since I grew up in the Bahamas, it's pretty safe to say that there are no apple orchards there.  They may be one flourishing apple tree, but that would definitely be it.  So when I moved to Connecticut for high school (ahem...way back when), I was excited to be taken out for my first apple picking experience.  As expected, it was a ton of fun.  Since then I've been apple-picking a handful of times, but in the past year or so, I've promised to make this an annual habit.

Last year, my mom and I went apple picking when she came to visit.  It was her first time apple picking (not counting the times she picked from neighborhood apple trees while in college in Washington State).  This year, it was my sister and nephew's turn.

We headed out to my favorite not-so-local orchard, Terhune Orchards, in Princeton, NJ.  I really like this orchard particularly because they offer a Fall Family Fun Festival throughout the month of October.  This was definitely something I knew my 2 1/2 yr old nephew would be interested in.

After all the rain earlier in the week, we were lucky enough to have a gorgeous, sunny day for our outing.

Hello, Terhune!

Look at all these options!

Our first stop was the pony rides, since my nephew really enjoys those.  He got to take a walk around a field on a small pony.  While he was nervous at first, he was thrilled by the end of it!

Um...random goat and geese hanging out and chillin'.  This is what happens on a farm.

If you visit the farm with kids, be assured that there are a ton of things to do.  There's a jungle gym.  There are mini tractors that the kids can play with.  You can even take a wagon ride through a small apple orchard.  (The big orchard is actually about a mile down the road from the farm.)

Small apple orchard

Do you want to pick pumpkins?  They've got you covered.

Don't want to pick your own pumpkins?  Again, you're good to go.

If you really really really want to see alpacas...here you are.

I know. Odd, right?  It's cool.  They're cute and furry.

Attention adults.  Don't you worry.  Terhune Orchards has also looked out for your palette.  They've opened up a winery on the premises, complete with a tasting room.  This means you can taste and purchase wine just a few steps away from the endless apple cider, apple cider donuts, and other locally made treats.  Their farm store also offers fruits and vegetables that have been grown on their farm.

I seem to have gotten tired and neglected to take pictures of the store.  Sorry!  I'm pretty sure I was too busy stuffing my face with pulled pork and watermelon.  That's a fact.

And then we were off to apple picking.  This year, unlike in past years, I didn't zoom right by the turnoff for the large apple orchard.  Driving success.  Yay!

We didn't spend a lot of time at the apple orchard.  This was partially due to the fact that we were exhausted from the fall festival.  This was also partially due to the fact that in actuality, there's no way that my sister, nephew, and I could eat more than 5lbs of apples combined. That's not a lot of apples in real life.  True story.  Since my nephew really wanted to pick apples, we let him pick the majority of them and then headed back out on the road.

Obviously these apples were fresh, crisp and so very tasty.  Even my nephew really enjoyed one.  His typical M.O. for eating apples is to bite around the apple in one line before handing it back and claiming he's done.  This time, he actually ate about half of one of these apples.  I definitely agree with what you're doing there, buddy.

Thanks for another great year, Terhune Orchards!