Tuesday, October 26, 2010

How does your pumpkin grow?

Although we have ALWAYS ~ I mean EVERY year ~ taken the kids to what I have called a 'pumpkin patch', I finally realized that I actually have NEVER taken them to a FOR REAL pumpkin patch!
We have always stopped on the side of the road or at a local church that has already picked and cleaned the pumpkins and laid them our nicely for our convenience and photo op.

Now this is all well and good, but I thought it would be fun to be a bit more adventuresome this year and expose the kids {and myself} to a FOR REAL pumpkin patch.

We loaded up the troops and headed over to Holland Farms for our real country pumpkin pickin' experience.







These are some of the sweetest people that run the farm.

They already won Brian over when he spotted the Barney Fife poster on the wall.

Brylee found a pumpkin that was just her size.

Savanna was more than gracious to humor me by laying down in the pre-picked pumpkins at my request. She was an itty bitty little thing on her first trip to the pumpkin patch and we literally laid her down on top of all those beautiful orange pumpkins. Check tomorrow's post for our Wednesday Walk down memory lane.





Just to add to all the fun and excitement of the whole farm/pumpkin patch experience, those sweet people gave each and every one of us a cup of the BEST home grown boiled peanuts I have ever eaten!
I offered to pay, but they told us that was our gift for coming to visit the farm.



Check out Mr. Muscles with all those peanuts.




We had to stop for a few photos by the tractor before heading out to the pumpkin patch.




Isn't that just gorgeous?!


Our pumpkin patch gang!


I finally got over feeling guilty that I had never taken my children to a real pumpkin patch to pick their pumpkins right off the vine when I realized that I myself had never been to one either!
Okay, in an effort to keep things real here, I am going to share with you a few little lessons I learned in the pumpkin patch.
~
1. Yellow box are not the proper footwear one should wear for such a fun family outing.
2. Rotten pumpkins do not make me feel warm and fuzzy about the onset of fall the way fresh, lovely ripe ones do.
3. Knats apparently are drawn to rotting pumpkins.
4. My body spray must in some way remind knats of rotting pumpkins.
5. Real pumpkin patches do not actually resemble the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown pumpkin patch.

All in all, it really was a wonderful family field trip on a lovely fall afternoon with great friends.
But apparently, my conversion to country life is still a work in progress and is just going to take a little more time.





Fortunately, my children don't seem at all bothered by the bugs and weeds that one might find in the country. They thought the whole thing was the best idea anyone had had in a long time. And really, isn't that what it's all about. Providing fun experiences for the kids, making memories, and spending some quality time together.

After we found our 'keeper' pumpkins, I just couldn't resist a quick pic in front of the sunflower field.







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