Great Country Farms with CertifiKID

This post is sponsored by CertifiKID but all opinions are my own

Great Country Farms with Certifikid | Outfit Details

Top: Nordstrom (old, similar) // Jeans: 1822 Denim // Necklace: Made By Mary // Earrings: Kendra Scott // Bracelet: Kendra Scott // Watch: Arvo Wear // Shoes: Sperry Top-Sider // Diaper Bag: Freshly Picked // Jackie's Top: Jacadi // Jackie's Leggings: Hanna Andersson // Jackie's Shoes: Freshly Picked

Great Country Farms with CertifiKID | Getting Out This Fall

Between all of the rain this summer and some family health issues, we really didn't get out to do much. Now that Fall is here and we are seeing a lot more sunshine, I am trying to get our little family out and doing more. Jackie is always on the move and she needs to constantly have something new to do or she gets bored. There are a lot of farms in the Northern Virginia area that provide fun activities for kids so I thought she was the perfect age to start taking her out to some of these places. I wanted to see how she would do with pumpkin patches and apple picking!

Great Country Farms with CertifiKID | Using CertifiKID

We chose to go to Great Country Farms because we got tickets through CertifiKID. The tickets were easy to get and made getting in much faster. We went on a Saturday so it was pretty crowded. The cooler weather and the cloudy skies made it an even more popular day to be at the farm. I would strongly suggest going on a weekday if you can make it work! Here is the weekday deal with CertifiKID. The tickets include all of the activities at the Farm EXCEPT for the Gem Mine Sluice and the Cow Train.

CertifiKID is a free website that has deals on activities, classes, products, travel and more in your area. CertifiKID is not just another “deal site,” but a resource for families looking for the best experiences and memories on a budget. I love the idea that they work in your area to provide fun things to do, it's not just activities that no one wants to go to. They make sure that the deals they offer are relevant and fun, while also providing an actual deal. A lot of the deals are 50% off of the original prices. The website is easy to use and you can find exactly what you are looking for without getting overwhelmed.

I have been going through the website looking for more fun things for us to do over the next few months with Jackie. Right now there are a lot of things to do in the Fall and Winter months. If you have older kids, they also have deals on birthday party packages at a lot of fun locations.

Great Country Farms with CertifiKID | Fun Things To Do At Great Country Farms

So Jackie might have been a tad bit overwhelmed. She had her 18 month check up, so shots, the day before so she wasn't 100% on her game. There were a lot of people and SO MANY things to do! Luckily we had invited my parents to come with us so we had lots of extra hands, especially for pictures. PRO TIP: If you have a child that doesn't like having something on their arm, try putting the entry bracelet on their leg. As soon as I stopped trying to put Jackie's bracelet on her wrist and switched it to her leg, she stopped freaking out.

Jackie could have played in the pumpkins the entire time we were there. Luckily there was an area where the pumpkins were out and she could play in them since we didn't get a chance to go to the actual pumpkin patch. She climbed over and around them and loved sitting in among a group of them like she was in a fort. I am now tempted to go buy a bunch of pumpkins so we can recreate this little activity that kept her busy for almost an hour.

Since this was an activity that involved Jackie, of course she found the water in the Gem Mine Sluice. We didn't pay for the bag of sand to sift through because Jackie's only interest was putting her hands in the water. We let her do this two different time and both times we took her away, there was some screaming involved.

There is a MASSIVE play area for kids of pretty much all ages. Jackie was a little overwhelmed trying to decide which slide to go down so I decided for her! We went down one of the tub slides and she LOVED it. She shrieked the entire way down. There are animals (in cages) all over the play area so it's a nice way to see the animals without having to leave the playgrounds. Jackie was briefly fascinated by the turkeys, but I think she was a little young to really appreciate the rest of the animals.

The last thing we did was the U Pick Apples. You take a wagon to the apple orchard and then you can pick anything that isn't roped off. Jackie wasn't sure about the entire thing at first but as soon as I showed her that you could pull the apples off the trees, she was on board. From that point on, she had at least one apple in her hand and kept trying to put two apples together like they were pieces of a puzzle. Her face in those pictures crack me up! She also loved putting the apples into our mouths. Apparently that was hilarious!

Great Country Farms with CertifiKID | Things I Would Have Done Differently

There are several things I would have done differently that I think are important if you plan on going to Great Country Farms. I definitely would have done the wagon ride to the U-Pick orchard FIRST instead of last. I think Jackie would have enjoyed it more and we could have put the apples in the car after we paid for them. There is always a line for the wagons to both apples and the pumpkins so I think jumping in those lines when you first get there is a good idea.

I would have brought a lunch of everyone. We planned on spending about 2 hours there and then getting lunch on our way home. But I think if we had brought a lunch, we could have stayed a bit longer. There is also a restaurant there where you can get food if you don't want to bring your own.

I definitely would have gone on a week day. We went on the Saturday of Columbus Day weekend so there were a lot of people there. I have a feeling that there would have been a lot less people on a Wednesday! I know that is harder when you have older kids that are in school but you can always take them after school is out. Great Country Farms is open from 9 am to 6 pm.

Thank you to Certifikid for making this post possible