First Time at the Pumpkin Patch

Hey hey!! If you saw my post on Monday about our Family Fall Bucket List  then you'd know how excited I was to start ticking things off the list. Well, this weekend we did just that!!! And we ticked quite a few things off of our list all at once!

Yep, you read that right.. we checked 4 things off of our list in ONE afternoon!

On Sunday afternoon DJ, Maddie, Brandin and Brittany (Maddie's uncle and aunt) and I, all went to a local farm to pick pumpkins! DJ and I had never gone together before.. In fact, the last time I went was back in 2008 I believe!! I really wanted to take Maddie this year and start it as a new family tradition.

We got to the local farm and it was VERY unorganized. There weren't really clear directions of where things were located so we just had to guess. While we were waiting for the "Hay Ride" (I'll explain more about that later..) we decided to go and have cider and donuts which were included in our admission. Maddie had her first taste of apple cider. She wasn't too big of a fan of it, but that's possibly because of how strong it is. Next time we'll water it down for her.

After we were done with cider and donuts we went to get on the hay ride, but it was WAAAYY too packed and I knew that I should probably be sitting close to the back, so that I had something to hang on too. So we decided to try our luck at the corn maze. It was awful! We went in what we assumed was the entrance but all passageways led to the same dead end. Someone had cut their way through the dead end, but there was no way we were going to take Maddie through a path that was not made by the farm. So we cut our losses and left it.

The tractor was back for the Hay Ride so we decided to just go sit and wait for it to start. Now, when I say Hay Ride, what I really mean is a tractor with a flatbed attached. There was no hay, and you had to sit along the outside of the bed with your feet off the side. There was a step that went across, but my little legs couldn't reach it. Maddie sat on her daddy's lap so that she was safe and held tight. The ride was a BAD idea for me! Being about 8 months pregnant, every bump was AWFUL. It was not so fun. I started having Braxton Hicks contractions. Thankfully that's all they were!

About halfway through the ride, we stopped in a huge pumpkin patch and got to pick our own! This was pretty cool because we got to walk through the patch and decide which one we wanted. We got a really tall one for Maddie, it has a good 'face' so the possibilities are endless as to what we can make it. DJ picked the 'perfect' pumpkin. When you think of a picture of a pumpkin, that's what his looks like. I picked a round one because... ya know.. I'm pretty round right about now lol Brandin and Brittany picked out thier perfect pumpkins as well. Then we all loaded back up and made our way back to the front. At that point the farm was getting ready to close and prepare for their haunted hayrides. So, we took our pumpkins and checked out. We also grabbed another very small pumpkin on the way to check out.

Then it was time to head home and warm up! Maddie had a lot of fun. She had to be held most of the time though because we didn't take the stroller in with us, but she didn't seem to have too much of an issue with it. It was a great way to spend a fall afternoon. And I'm so glad we started this family tradition.

Have you gone to the pumpkin patch this year? What are some of your fall family traditions, or what fall traditions do you hope to start with your family?

I hope you're all well!
Megan