it’s official. it’s fall {ooohhh, cool coats and boots, here we come!}. but hey, technically it was still summer when we did this. so, with that, we were able to cross off another summer to do on our list! we went to a farmer’s market in downtown downers grove. i heard through others that it was a great place and that it offered a lot of great produce, amongst other items.

i was super excited to explore it. as crazy as this sounds, i have never been to a farmer’s market before. yesssss. it’s true. never. ever. been. although, i have heard so many wonderful things about them, i never really took the plunge to go to one and now here we are. my first time evah and i was soooo excited!

we got up and got ready to go. we knew that there would be food there, so we wanted to hold off and get breakfast at the market. we found a parking spot nearby and strolled our way to the market.

once we stepped inside the lines, we were greeted with such goodies! the first stand we stopped at, the lady was selling pies. all organic, no preservatives, all made from scratch ingredients. they all looked so good. then we saw a stand that made piping hot fresh doughnuts…oh em gee. we turned around and there was a crepe stand. there were so many fresh veggies, fruits, and fun knick knacks to look at. it was all i imagined it would be! chock full of goodness.

[selfie at the market! fresh flower stand behind us!]

[fresh veggies]

we ended up buying veggies at this stand, the carrots were huge! we purchased green beans, carrots, potatoes, and fruit.

[lots and lots of independent stands full of goodies]

[she just woke up from a nap]

[organic mini pies…sooooo delish]

these pies were sooooo good. we gobbled them up! they were perfectly sweet, the crust was delicate and light, and the filling was decadently rich. we will definitely purchase these pies again!

[snuggling her bear]

[apple cider donuts from st. charles]

these cider donuts were to die for. they were so yummy, sweet, and densely cakey. perfectly cakey goodness. i could, seriously, eat three in one sitting.

after we perused the whole place, we started to make our purchases. we picked up veggies, fruit, a hat for olive, donuts, pies, and finally decided upon breakfast. we all wanted a crepe. hc got a paella crepe, gracie wanted a banana hazelnut crepe, and i chose the ham and cheese crepe. we watched the chef make each of our crepes…we were so hungry by then! it was such a popular place, there was quite a line at this stand but we got there just in time, before the rush. we got our crepes right away! woo!

[breakfast! grace with her banana and nutella crepe]

[the chef in process of making my crepe]

[my ham, egg, and cheese crepe]

[enjoying our breakfast in this great weather!]

[as we ate our breakfast, we enjoyed the polka band playing near us!]

after we ate our crepes in the warm sunshine, while listening to the polka band, we gathered our goodies and headed out. i must say, it was a successful visit to the farmer’s market! we headed out with a whole bunch of good stuff. i loved my first time at the market and can’t wait to go again. unfortunately, most likely next year since all the farmer’s markets are closing up shop soon. boo.

nevertheless, it was pretty awesome. i had a fantastic time with my family exploring such a great farmer’s market so close to home. cheers to such great, yummy finds on that day!

xoxo