Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Barton Hill Farms - Awesome Family Fun


Have you heard of Barton Hill Farms?  Barton Hill Farms is a scenic Texas farmstead near Bastrop, about 25 minutes or so from Austin.  They have so much to do here!  I went over the weekend with A, B, F and Baby G and I wish I had taken everyone, it was that much fun.  They have a 5-acre corn maze, pumpkin patch (you can even pick out your favorite pumpkin), farm animals (goats and pigs), live Texas country & bluegrass music, and so many games that the whole family can enjoy.  If you live in or around Austin I highly recommend that you check out Barton Hill Farms, you will not regret it and you are sure to make lots of family memories.  I know we did!  They are only open Saturdays and Sundays until November 5th so don't miss the last weekend coming up.  Purchase your tickets here and let me know about your trip.

Arriving

The kids and I had a nice drive to Barton Hill Farms.  It was about a 45 minute drive for us from North Austin.  We loved the scenic drive and F had a great time spotting cows and horses along the way.

The entrance to the farm.

I took this photo of F on the hay bale by the entrance.  I loved all the amazing photo opportunities that were everywhere around the farm.

The girls were super excited when they spotted the corn as we were headed to the entrance.  They were looking forward to going through the corn maze.

The boys checking out the animals.

The first thing we did was visit the goats and pigs.  The pigs were sleeping but the boys had a great time talking to all the animals.

A closer view

Sleeping beauties...

Next we played many of the surrounding games: Barnyard Bowlin', Water Duck Races, Giant Tic-Tac-Toe, Lasso, and Bean Bag Toss.

Barnyard Bowlin'

There were several lanes available.

B taking a turn

F really loved this game.

He knocks one down...

After watching his brother, baby G had to have a go at it too.

We let him get a tad bit closer to hit the pins.

The water duck races were a lot of fun.  You crank the pump and the water pushes the ducks along to the other side.  F could almost do this by himself.  A did a great job helping him.

Cranking the pump

You can see that there were several pumps available on both sides of this game.

Go duck, go duck, go...

A and B enjoyed a few games of Giant Tic-Tac-Toe.  I don't think either one of them won, they are getting really good!

Playing Tic-Tac-Toe

B showing you that she is O.

Right next to the Giant Tic-Tac-Toe are several different bean bag toss games.  They have different shapes, different colors, and varying difficulties.  The buckets contain the bean bags.  You just grab and toss.

Here you can see some of the bean bag toss options.

F and G throwing.  F's bean bag is in the air in this photo.

B having a turn as well.

We learned how to lasso with the ropes and stationary cows.  This was pretty cool because I don't think I have ever done this.  The girls showed F what to do he seemed to enjoy it - a lot.  Maybe I have a future cowboy on my hands.

B showing F how it's done.

A taking a try

Getting ready

I love this photo - my cowboy!

F and G wanted to go on the big slide so we did that for awhile.

This is a two-way slide with exits on both sides.

F taking a turn

 After sliding, love that smile.

B took Baby G several times.

Geronimo!

Then, F and B rode on the cow tractor train.  It was so fun to listen to F as he was riding the train, he was so loud I could hear everything he said :).

F rode near the front in Bella

B rode more towards the back.

And they're off...

They made several passes on the lower ground and then they went up a slight hill and made a few circles.


Live Music

As you are walking around they have live music playing.  I thought the band was really good and enjoyed their music.

On our way to the Pumpkin Patch.

The pumpkin patch had lots of little areas set up so that you could search for the perfect pumpkin and take great photos.  There were so many different photo opportunities here.  The best I have ever seen at a pumpkin patch!

Pumpkins

F posing with the first pumpkins he found.

Another hay bale shot.  I think he really liked being so high.

Here you can see some of the different stations set up for photo opps like this one.

The boys...

My kid tractor, not sure about that driver though :)

Baby G really enjoyed picking up small pumpkins that he could carry and walking around with them.

OH, how I love this photo!

Right next to the pumpkin patch is a field of flowers.  There is a train that takes you through them that we rode.

My bumble bee amongst the flowers.

B in the flowers.

Here is the train taking us through the flowers.  B and F are up front and A, baby G and I are in the 2nd to last cart.

Another view from my car

And a selfie!

After the train in the flowers we headed to the corn maze!

A fun sign at the farm

This train takes you through the corn but we didn't ride it.  We went through the corn maze on foot.

Yes, you can!

Here is the map of the maze at the entrance along with a quiz.  The answers to the questions tell you which way to turn at the number stations - left or right.

Into the maze we go!

It was so pretty.

I took a lot of photos but I won't show you all of them.

Here is an example of a number station.  You look on your quiz and the correct answer will lead you in the correct direction.

Station 7

Station 10

Baby G's 1st corn maze and he loved every second of it.

After the corn maze (yes, we made it out) we played Barnyard Basketball and Barnyard Baseball - both were so fun!

B taking a turn.

Action shot

Baby G wanted to play but he does not have the arm strength so we let him carry a ball.

Onto baseball

 I cannot believe F's arm.  Yep, he is a lefty, my only one so far.  He made more shots in this game than I did and I have pretty good aim.

 I am not sure what you call these, hamster balls?  The kids had a blast crawling inside and pushing each other.  Want to wear your kids out?  Try these - they work well.

Another view

The kids taking a breather on a giant porch swing.

Another photo opportunity of A and F.

 Here you can see a few tables in the background set up with shade tents.

There is lots of open area to run around and play throughout the farm.  There are also several tether ball stations and a giant trampoline area towards the back of the farm.  We didn't end up jumping while we were there but it looked like a lot of fun.  There was so much to do, we didn't do everything.   Oh, and they have lots of food:  BBQ, Tex-Mex, snow cones, Kettle corn, bottled water and fountain sodas so come hungry!  There are plenty of picnic tables and picnic areas to enjoy your food.  Barton Hill Farms is definitely a place that I will return to in the future and if you don't have plans this weekend, you really should check them out.

Disclosure: Thanks so much to USFamilyGuide and Barton Hill Farms for providing my family with 4 tickets in exchange for this review.  All opinions are my own.

No comments:

Post a Comment