Summer Memories at the Farm

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SnackSnapShare #SnackStories #CollectiveBias

In 7+ years of blogging, my favorite thing to write about is personal things that I have been through, memories, experiences, feelings and more. It helps me to reach deep and think about things that are important to me. Today, I want to share some of my summer memories at the farm. My parent's purchased a farm when I was in third grade that has been such a huge part of my life. Growing up, we went there every single weekend and took about 5 week long trips there through the year. 

Though there are other farms of course, it is always known as "the farm" to me. Most of my life, I have loved the farm. When I was in middle school and high school, it was hard at times missing events with friends due to going to the farm but now, I am thankful for the those times spent with family and making memories that would last a lifetime.

The summer is the best time of year at the farm. There is so much to do if you are an outdoors lover like me and I want to share with you some of my favorite memories at the farm in the summer.

My parent's have a huge pond at the farm that is great for swimming. I have been swimming in it my whole life pretty much and now, my daughter gets to swim in it. This is so special to me. I especially loved playing a game we called "colors" growing up in the pond with my siblings. We could swim for hours. Lots of great sibling bonding time.

My parent's have 80 acres of land on the farm and I love going on walks all around the farm. Every time we visit, I try to go on at least one walk a day at the farm. I love looking at the trees, the crops and discovering new things. I love picking wild strawberries, raspberries and asparagus. Growing up, a specific memory that I have is helping my dad cut down trees on the farm and haul branches and logs. My siblings and I would always pray that the chainsaw would run out of gas so we wouldn't have to cut wood. This makes me laugh now!!

My dad has the best fruit trees and he grows pears, apples, peaches, grapes and cherries. As the biggest fan of fruit I know, this is literally one of my favorite things in the world to do! A memory that I have of doing this growing up is my siblings and I would be picking up "groundfall" apples- apples that fell on the ground and are no good to eat and we would give to the deer- and we would always be messing around with each other. 

I remember one time, my grandparents were driving up to visit and my parents kept saying, you guys better pickup those apples before they get here. Now both of my grandparents are gone and all that is left is these memories- cue the tears!

Ever since I can remember, we have been having bonfires at the farm. Now that we are older, we have some beer or wine but back in the day, we would roast marshmallows or even pickles in the fire! The bonfires have been one of the best places for us to have deep conversations with each other. We have talked about so many important things at the fire!! College, boyfriends/girlfriends, getting married, having kids, jobs, etc. etc. These memories cannot be traded for anything.

My family loves board games and I have so many great memories of us playing games at the farm. We used to play this game called 1313 Dead End Drive together at the farm and us kids would laugh and have the greatest time. Troy says that I cannot call my siblings "the kids" anymore since we are 27, 25 and 23 but I can't stop it!

At the farm, there are two bedrooms because us three siblings. I always remember staying up late talking and laughing with my siblings. Eventually, one of our parents would come in and yell at us to go to bed. They would need to come in a few times before we would listen. This makes me laugh now because I am now the parent telling their kid to go to bed. How times have changed

Snacks has its own category? In my family, yes. We love snacks. At the farm, we always bring the best snacks. One memory that I have is making what we call "farm snack" which is pretty much a loaded marshmallow cereal treat. We would mix melted marshmallows with pretzel sticks, peanuts, cereal and more for a snack while we would watch a family movie each Sunday night. 

Also, right when we get to the farm, my sister Natalie and I have a tradition where we want to eat every single thing in sight- still to this day. When we are supposed to be unloading everything, we are snacking. 

Some of our favorites are Kettle Brand® Potato Chips which I love every single flavor and always switch up what we buy, Snyder's of Hanover® Pretzels with mustard and sour candy. We love these snacks to share together. Especially the kettle chips! I love finding new flavors and buying them for everyone to try. I chose the Maple Bacon this time and we all enjoyed them- especially Adalyn as you can see in the pictures. The pretzels are awesome with a couple different flavors of mustard and hummus.

Well, this post has been so fun to write! I have literally cried and laughed while writing it and love remembering memories. I am such a sap when it comes to family memories and am so blessed to get to raise my kids with going to the farm. I hope that they share some of these memories that I have had throughout my life and make some of their own as well. 

If I were to enter the sweepstakes, I would share this photo with the hashtag #SnackSnapShare!

There is a great sweepstakes going on where the grand prize is a $10,000 cash prize for a family vacation of the winner's choosing. They will also be giving away snacks and Visa gift cards. Enter the sweepstakes by sharing you snack stories and submit photos using the hashtag #SnackSnapShare