Fall is my most favorite season. The chill returns to the air, fires return to fireplaces, pumpkin spice returns to lattes, and I would go to the pumpkin patch. Whether it was on a school field trip or with my family, I grew up going on hay rides and picking out the perfect pumpkin from the field.
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| Where else but a pumpkin patch can a girl milk a wooden cow? |
One year they held a pumpkin holding contest. While I wasn't much for holding the pumpkins, my dad certain was. We were the winning team with 22 pumpkins. The prize? 22 pumpkins. The stairs of our deck never looked so good as they did that October.
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| My sister Kelly and her little friend Freddie made up our first team. |
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| Check out dad's Tom Selleck 'stache! And we can just side step my super high half pony tail...I totally rocked it. |
Some of my favorite childhood memories are from going to pumpkin patch and when Dan and I learned we were expecting in January 2013, I was already looking forward to October when we could take our newborn to the pumpkin patch. I could already picture the adorable pictures we were going to take.
Well, life happened and it wasn't until this year that we FINALLY made it. While I would have loved to have gone to Book's Pumpkin Patch, the one both Dan and I grew up going to, they're only open to private/scheduled groups now, so we ventured on to Wheatland to enjoy Bishop's Pumpkin Farm. The day was finally here and I felt like a kid again knowing I would soon be experiencing the wonders of petting zoos, hay rides, and pumpkin picking all over again through the eyes of Riley.
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| Our first stop was the petting zoo. |
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| Hanging out with the donkey. |
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| The horns were his favorite. |
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| And sometimes, you just gotta hug a goat. |
From the petting zoo we headed over to the wooden train, jack-o-latern, and rocking horses.
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| One cool kiddo. |
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| This is where the cool kids hang out (and kudos to dad for actually getting into the tight space meant for kids). |
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| Look ma, no hands! |
After some fun playing, we stopped for some lunch and had some of the best homemade corndogs we've ever had. Then it was time to ride the Bishop's Pumpkin Farm Railroad.
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| Riley looked a little confused about what we were doing. |
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| But, he got 'on board' real quick with the plan to ride the train. |
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| What BIG pumpkins!! |
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| Despite the look on his face he was really enjoying his time at the pumpkin farm. |
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| Then it was time to ride the carousel. |
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| Daddy looks like he's having more fun than Riley is! |
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| Look mom! I'm on a GIANT tire!! |
Our time was getting a little short on how much more Riley was going to be able to enjoy before we were going to reach his meltdown point from playing too much and not getting in a nap. But we still hadn't taken the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, so we pressed on.
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| We had the whole ride to ourselves. |
And after finding of the perfect pumpkin and falling ear first into the dirt, it was time to grab mommy an apple cider slushee, daddy a bag of chocolate chip cookies, we called it a day and headed home.
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| We didn't make it 4 miles down the road before someone finally got his nap. |
The pumpkin patch was a huge success. We had one of the best days we had had in a long time. I cannot wait until we have the chance to go back again next year. I only wish that we could go to the pumpkin patch all year long.
