Have Son, Will Travel: Paulus Farm Market

Monday morning I needed to pick up some fall décor, aka hay bales. Living in Central PA means that there is lots of options for this since we are surrounded by farm land. I could of easily picked them up at a few places closer to home, but why would I do that when there is fun to be had? Instead Javon and I headed to Paulus Farm Market in Mechanicsburg. Paulus Farm Market has been around since the year I was born, so about 23 years. I can vividly remember visiting with my mom and grandma as a child a few times, to pick up fresh produce. Paulus is not just a farm market though, they offer fun for the whole family!

As a working mother, with somewhat odd hours, I greatly appreciate Paulus being open not only on the weekends like most local fall attractions, but also during the week! I work on Saturdays, and have off on Mondays. There is not much for us to do on Monday's once summer ends. With that work schedule, and a upcoming Disney World trip cutting into our October timeline, being able to visit a place like this on our schedule is awesome! All you weekend working parents take note. This place is for you!

Paulus Farm Market also offers affordable family fun! During the week, 3$ per child gives you access to the farm. That includes visiting all the animals, the fall fun fort, and the hay play area! Weekends are a bit different, with a price of 4$ per person. This includes all the attractions mentioned above plus hayrides to the pumpkin patch and admission to the corn maze. Through my research I've found you cannot beat that price at any other local fall attraction!

So we arrived on Monday morning, We purchased Javons admision and also a bucket of feed for the animals. The bucket cost 3.50$ and included some kind of big leaves (Javon had already given them away by the time I noticed what they were), nacho chips, crackers, snap peas and 2 apples. Javon loved feeding the animals! As soon as they saw him approach with the treats they eagerly ran over, and after they were fed they even stuck around to be pet. We fed the goats and sheep, but our favorite was feeding the apples to the 2 pigs. You rolled your apples down a tube while 2 huge pigs waited, they then grabbed the apple and let out hearty snorts as they finished the apple in seconds!

I think this big guy liked me :)

After we had fed all the animals, we headed to the hay play area. The hay play area, is under a large white tent, and features 2 big slides, tunnels and more! This is Javon's favorite area, he loves climbing up all the hay bales and zooming down the slides!

We ended our visit with a stop at the Fall Fun Fort, which is a greenhouse type tent filled with corn boxes, a hay maze, a little slide and more. Every time we visit, this tent seems to be a hit with mom friends, they line the corn bales sipping coffee and gossiping while the little ones play together. Javon feels he is getting too old for this, but he noticed older boys playing and went right in.

Paulus Farm Market is a great place to spend a few hours this fall! I recommend it to anyone, but especially the weekend workers who have free time during the week. When you visit don't forget to stop in the market on your way out to check out the selections of fresh local produce, meats, baked goods, décor, flowers and more!

We headed out after grabbing a drink from the market, loaded up our hay bales and took off for the shoot I had that day. I must say, the hay bale shots turned out beautiful, and I cannot wait for my upcoming shoots now that I have them!