Last December and just before Christmas, I had the privilege of photographing a large family reunion at Fox Hollow Equestrian Farm in Issaquah. (Photos are posted on my photography blog at http://teddiyaeger.blogspot.com) The entire farm was blanketed in snow, but even then I could tell that it was a magnificent estate. The owners, Autumn and Tony, had moved to it recently from the East Coast, and they have done a lot of work in the few months since I was last there. The farm is a bustling place - a full riding school as well as summer camps and seasonal events, plus their new drop-in play dates! I'm personally excited for their Autumn Harvest and Halloween events in October! They also have packages for company events, family reunions, birthday parties and such.
Fox Hollow is the kind of place where I would love to raise our kids. It's the kind of place that you hand down to your children and your children's children. Perfect for celebrating holidays, family reunions, the seasons, life in general. The kind of place I would purchase in a heartbeat if I won the lottery. But since that has happened (yet), I will have to be content with visiting it from time to time, when it's open to the public.
It's also the perfect place to spend an idyllic summer afternoon, so a couple of weeks ago, I headed out to Fox Hollow with my two little ones in tow (ages 5 and 2 & 1/2 years) for one of the drop-in play dates. The cost was only $5 per person. The kids immediately started running around the barn, picking up any farm animal that they could and petting those that they couldn't pick up. There were chickens, peacocks, bunnies, kittens (running loose in the loft), horses, ponies, ducks and even a pot belly pig (who we discovered quietly sleeping in the shade). The kids then rode around on little John Deere tractors on the lawn, and then discovered the huge inflatable castle to bounce around in. After a while, I convinced them to follow me to the back lawn behind the house for a snack and rest in the shade. (Several picnic tables were filled with moms and children having picnic lunches.) We wandered over to the stream (gated off from the rest of the lawn), to watch a couple of inner-tubers. Issaquah Creek runs right behind the property at a nice, gentle pace, and I suddenly wished we had brought our swimsuits.
Which is exactly how we were treated the whole time - as guests. From the time we were escorted to a parking space in their large lot, to signing in and wandering the grounds, there was always someone greeting us, asking if we needed anything. It was an absolutely idyllic summer afternoon, and I thank Autumn, Tony and their family and staff for their hospitality.
For more information on Fox Hollow's events, click here.
















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