Always a good time playing in the leaves! The kids always love having fun in the leaves. Always takes twice as long to get the leaves in the bag but well worth it!
Another patch
Pumpkin patch that is! Stephen took a day off and we headed to a new pumpkin patch with the kids after Emily got out of school. We have been to this place to pick peaches and apples but never pumpkins. Note to self: go in the morning. We went after lunch and the place was full with school groups. Needless to say, we had a bit of a wait before we could get our wagon ride out to pick our pumpkins.
The kids didn’t mind so much because they got to play in the castle, go down the slide and play in the greenhouse. After about an hour, Zachary was starting to get tired. Luckily they were finally ready for us. It was pretty cool because we had the wagon and the patch all to ourselves. The neat thing about Herman’s Farm is that you get to pick and cut your own pumpkin. We have never been to a place like that. Normally they are already picked and sitting waiting. It was a lot of fun walking through the field, trying to find just the right one. Although, I think Zachary’s feet only hit the ground a few times. He was so tired that he didn’t want to walk much. We did find some pretty awesome pumpkins. Stephen even found this a big one for us. We’ve never had a big, big pumpkin before. I swear this thing is 30+ pounds!
Now…What should we do with all of our pumpkins?!
Pumpkin Land!
I love fall. I love pumpkins and going to pumpkin patches. There are so many in the local area to choose from. One that we have gone to for the past 3 years is right across the river. Pumpkin Land has a huge are for the kids to play in. They have zip swings, a huge pirate ship and a corn maze just to name a few. You can spend a several hours there while the kids burn off energy.
We got there shortly after they opened this past Saturday. After the kids played for a few minutes we headed over to take a wagon ride around the farm. They take you on a tour of their farm and try to explain some of ins and outs of the farm. I think Stephen and I enjoy the wagon ride more than the kids but that’s ok. They get to play and we get to sit for a few minutes. After we were through with our wagon ride, the kids played more. We tried getting some pictures next to the big pumpkins. Try being the operative word here. Neither one of them really wanted to cooperate at the same time. We then decided that we would try the corn maze for the first time this year. It was fun. Took us a while to find our way and I ended up carrying Zachary the last part but we had a good time.
You can’t leave Pumpkin Land without picking out a pumpkin or two! We also left with quite a bit of homegrown produce as well!
PS- We also discovered that Zachary really dislikes the feel of hay. It’s pretty amusing…..
It is fall… It is fall….
The leaves are falling every where. Pumpkin lattes. Pumpkin mousse. Oktoberfest. Apple picking. That’s when you know that it is fall. The leaves haven’t started falling yet but the morning chill is here to stay. I have to say, fall is probably my favorite season. I love all things pumpkin and Halloween. We usually celebrate fall by attending our local Oktoberfest and go apple picking. Knowing that we had a busy calendar in October, we decided to lump the two into the same weekend.
Saturday morning we loaded the wagon in the car and headed down to Main Street to enjoy the Oktoberfest parade. It’s not a major parade but it’s fun nonetheless. The small crowd definitely gives it a small town kind of feel. And more candy Emily would tell you. Even though Zachary went to the 4th of July parade this year, he still wasn’t sure what to think when the bands came by. He finally warmed up and was waving at every one as they walked past. Emily, on the other hand, is an old pro at parades. She can turn on the charm and get tons of candy thrown to her.
After the parade, we headed across the street to the park to check out the rest of the festival. We stopped at the kids area for some fun. Both kids had fun in the bounce houses that they had set up. Zachary thought it was more of a comfy area to take your socks off but he’ll get the hang of it. Then Emily painted a pumpkin to take home. After burning energy in the kids area, we headed to the food tent. It was only 11:30 in the morning so we decided that it was a little to early to partake beer but we did have a yummy German lunch. Weisswurst, Schnitzel, German potato salad, potato pancakes and applesauce. Yummy in the tummy!
Oktoberfest was a success!
After church the next day, we decided to forgo Zachary’s nap and head to Grafton for apple picking. This was our third time picking apples at Eckerts. It had kind of become a tradition in our family now. We got to take a hayride to the orchard and then pick apples. Emily and Stephen went one way and I took Zachary down another section. Zachary wasn’t as interested in picking apples as much as picking up rotten apples and seeing how far he could chuck them. The boy has an arm on him! After we got our 17 pounds of apples, we headed over to the kiddie area. Emily and Zachary got to ride a couple of rides and Emily rode the pony. Everyone had a good time.
Our apple supply has dwindled dramatically! We have had apple pie, “baked” apples and apple sauce. Up next is apple coffee cake! Enjoying the fruits of our labor.
Turkey pumpkin
We didn’t get around to carving pumpkins this year. You know what they say about good intentions??? I had to do something festive with them so decided to make turkey pumpkins again this year. It was fun and Emily really enjoyed doing making them this year. I think they turned out well.
It’s raining leaves!!!
Fall has come and is on its way out. I think it’s leaving as quickly as it got here! The last leaves are getting ready to fall from the trees soon. Saturday the high is supposed to be in the upper 30s. We didn’t get much time in sweatshirts and jeans. The Indian summer had us in shorts and t’s at Halloween and now we have to break out the parkas, although not for too long hopefully.
I would like to think that this is Emily’s “first fall”. Not her first by any means but the first that she is mobile and can enjoy the sights and textures of fall. Sure she was one last year but I would have had to thrown her into a pile if leaves and hope she could crawl her way out! This year has been fun! We got home yesterday from our library program and Emily was a little nuts. I was trying to decide what to do before we had to get lunch ready. Then I saw it as we drove into the garage- the beautiful blanket of leaves on our front lawn!
I feverishly raked the leaves into two piles. I couldn’t get them done fast enough though. I think it is something that is hardwired into a child’s brain that leaf piles are for running through, jumping in and laying in! No sooner than I set the rake against the garage, Emily was in motion. The squeals that came from her were contagious! She was having a blast and burning off some energy at the same time. It was so cute to watch her having such a good time. She even helped me put leaves in the yard waste bag because Daddy wouldn’t have been happy if we left two big leaf piles in the front yard!
Unfortunately, the energy burnt did not equal a good nap. Emily was up after only an hour. What the heck was I supposed to do with her?!? I ran across this leaf turkey on Family Fun’swebsite so I decided to give it a whirl. Of course I did most of the prep but Emily enjoyed gluing all of the leaves on! Unfortunately, I had a raging headache after all of the leaf fun. That’s the only drawback of fall weather!
-
- Falling leaves!
-
- Leaf pool
-
- I told Emily to put the leaves on the turkey’s tummy. She decided to show me hers!
-
- Gobble, sneeze!
I am a woman who wears many hats. Wife, mother, maid, cook, boo boo kisser and friend to name a few. I stay at home with my children. That doesn't mean I don't work! Believe me, I do. I love my life, despite the challenges I face. Every day is a gift and I try to live each day to the fullest. 
Love Overflowing 