Pumpkin Patch

Although such activities usually end up being far from the idyllic portrayal of family life that you see in Pottery Barn catalogues and parenting magazines, we have tried since having kids to do all the traditional seasonal activities like attending Easter egg hunts, visiting Santa at the mall and going to parades on the 4th of July.  The weeks leading up to Halloween mean one of the activities with the biggest potential for photos...the pumpkin patch.  Social media has been so flooded with pumpkin patch and apple picking photos  in the last month that I didn't even share any this year because everyone has seen the same pictures 1,000,000 times and I shared the same exact photos the last three years and also I have been sharing baby pictures in what may be considered excess.  But all of you get to see them!  Because the  pumpkin patch is such a pretty fall scene and it sure is fun.  Last night the weather was perfect and the wind was still so we didn't even need jackets.  The weather will be turning tonight with our first hard freeze expected (It's been a good summer, tomato and pepper plants, but I've eaten enough of your fruits to last until July 2016!) so we took the opportunity while we could. 

 

At the entrance there was this perfect "posing pumpkin" and we tried to arrange a picture with baby Milo in the middle but that didn't work at all.  They were to excited to run off and play. 

 

 

Then I tried to sit with Ben and Tessa and they both bolted as soon as I plopped myself in between them. 

On the continuum of pumpkin patches, this one is pretty good.  It's large and there is a massive obstacle course of hay bale structures to climb on.   There is also a huge bouncy trampoline/inflatable mat, a playground of wood trains and tractors with slides, zip lines, horse rides and of course a large variety of pumpkins and gourds. 

We started at the most popular attraction, which is the corn pit. 

We first brought Ben here when I was hugely pregnant with Tessa and he loved the corn pit.  He still loves to play with corn.  He has a bag of dried corn from the farm that he dumps in a pan (and, OK, I admit it ends up all over the floor and the whole house) and "farms" with his toy tractors and construction machines.  The corn pit is like that corn x 1,000.

So...much...cooooooorn!

 

Milo slept the whole time we were at the patch. 

 

I thought Ben would be obsessed with the tires but Tessa was more than he was. 

 

 He sure loves climbing!  See him up at the top of the pyramid?

Tessa loved this tunnel.  She ran through it countless times. 

Ben was not very interested in the pumpkins because we grew a patch of our own at the farm, although none of them got as big as these.  Those roundup resistant weeds really can take a lot out of a crop!  Tessa roamed around in them though and was giving them hugs.  Awwww...

 

Ben came here with his preschool class last week (the morning after Milo's birth, actually!) and he remembered what he wanted to play on and that was this combine and truck.   As soon as we approached that area he shouted, "I see the auger!!!"

 

 Tessa loved anything with a slide. 

 

So it actually was a very nice night.  That is until we had to leave. That's when the whining and fit throwing commenced.  This patch is near the river (which explains the heavily wooded environment) and about a 15 minute drive from our house and as we were pulling onto our street Ben was still wailing, "I don't want to leeeaaaaave!" even though the reason we left was because it was closing for the night. 

 

Here is a baby Milo picture.  He had a weight check today and was 7 lb. and 12 oz. which means he has gained back his birth weight so that is reassuring!  He's been a good baby and doing all the baby stuff such as soiling approximately twelve diapers each day and eating nonstop.  This morning we had his newborn photos with some shots with the siblings too so I look forward to seeing those.  The siblings were not exactly cooperative but I know the pictures of him will be perfect.