When I was young my mom would tell me the bruised parts were where all the vitamins were. I didn’t tell him that, but he chose to eat it anyway. He said it was just like the rest of the apple, only softer.

Today we headed out for our annual pilgrimage to pick apples. This year we headed to Fishkill Farms instead of our usual. The place was crazy crowded and quite a bit different than what we’re used to at DuBoice Farms.

First of all, Fishkill Farm has a $5-a-car entrance fee on the weekends, but with the throngs of people, I can understand this as a means of trying to encourage people to come on the weekdays.

Secondly, there was a lot more freedom with your own vehicle to drive around the property. We didn’t realize this at first, so we walked most of it on foot. But the property seems to be a bit more spread out it and ended up being quite a bit of walking.

Lastly, the payment method was a bit different. Instead of bringing your bags of apples up to a register, the payment process was simply driving to the exit and paying from your car. You have to open up your trunk and let them look inside so they can see how many apples you took.

The boys favorite part was racing each other. Anna even got in on the fun. In order to keep them from wanting to sit down or ride in the baby’s stroller, I would come up with some obstacle course races. The loved it. They kept asking me to come up with more.

Prices were similar to other places we’ve been. I’m always amazed at the cost at these places for us to pick our own apples. You would think it should be less since we’re doing the work. I’m sure they have some extra costs associated with allowing so many people on the property, but we could just as easily have gone to Adams or another grocery store a got it for about half the price. Of course, you miss the experience, which is why you’re going anyway.

I think we prefer DuBoice because of the extra kid-friendly things you can do – like the corn maze and live music. But, we still had a lot of fun.