Kuipers Family Farm

1N145 Watson Road (Apple Orchard), Maple Park, IL 60151

Of all my blog posts on The Simple Luxuries, there is one place that goes back in time the furthest. We need to revisit time before 2003, when Anna Shea Chocolates & Lounge was under construction…

…to 2002 when Kuipers Family Farm stood as a single building among a modest network of apple orchards, pumpkin farms and evergreen nurseries. Everything looks quite different now, grown exponentially by the expanding communities of visitors at Kuipers Family Farm every fall and holiday season. There is something good here, and there is something for everyone.

Scroll down to see more photos and read more about Kuipers Family Farm.

I am proud that I experienced Kuipers Family Farm when it was a smaller place for fall activities. And I am happy every fall when I return and marvel at how it has grown into such a beautiful place for families and everyone who wants to enjoy fall and the late seasons in all their glory.

Every year is different. The weather can be tricky. Some varieties of apples favor one type of climate while others prefer different weather patterns. And then there are the pumpkins which prefer hotter, dryer summers. The evergreen trees for the holidays like a certain kind of season. We can’t control nature. Even if we could, we would screw it up. A down year for one crop might mean an up year for another. This is what makes every year so beautiful and so different. It’s beyond our control and it’s natural. Just go with the flow and enjoy the seasons. There’s always something good in everything.

On a chilly and blustery Saturday morning in October, Lisa, my mom and I set out to Maple Park, not far from I-90, to visit our favorite place to be every fall—Kuipers Family Farm. Lisa is not one to repeat things so often. She likes to do things once and move on to the next thing; unless, that one thing happens to be good. This is a good thing. This is Kuipers Family Farm and the three of us visit this wonderful place every October.

We know Kuipers Family Farm so well—the layout of the expansive store (which is a network of barns and silos)—that we could follow our sense of smell leading us through the melody of scents: honey, wax candles, pot pourri, pumpkin spice, holiday spice, caramel-dipped apples, fresh baked pies, fresh made doughnuts, stacks of fudge, hot cider, flights of wine and hard cider, apple samples, kettle corn and the breezes off the evergreen trees in the nearby nurseries. This is your Kuipers Family Farm experience with your eyes closed and your mind open.

We usually visit the east side of Kuipers Family Farm, which is the location for the store and apple orchards. The pumpkin farm, corn maze and other family activities can be found on the west side. Because Kuipers Family Farm is now huge—let’s say it—I’m thinking of visiting the west side for the first time next fall with a blog post in mind. I want to see if I can capture the faces at the pig races so up close and personal. Not the kids. The pigs, of course! Stay tuned.

For all that we do at Kuipers Family Farm every year, even though we have done it for years now, the morning of our visits goes by so fast and turns into afternoon so easily. And this is just on the east side by the store and apple orchards. We look forward every year to visiting Kuipers Family Farm so much that we start talking about it before the next year has even started. We just feel so good being there and for having experienced another visit.

Kuipers Family Farm is my favorite place to be every fall. I have recommended Kuipers Family Farm to everyone I know; and, for those who go, they do the same for those they know and who ask where to go for fall and holiday fun. You know the answer. Put yourself in the equation where it all adds up at Kuipers Family Farm

To experience a dynamic presentation of Kuipers Family Farm, click on the link to my Adobe Spark photoblog at Adobe Spark – Kuipers Family Farm

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