Pumpkin Patch Kids

Yes it is fall, and it sure felt like it today!  So in the nature of bundling up and bonding Jerm and I took the kiddos to a local pumpkin patch!  Now with a family of six it is sometimes pretty expensive to do things as a family.  You have to multiply the amount of tickets, food, and all entertainment by 3...normally baby Boogie is still free since she in under 2 years old.  The pumpkin patch is one of the few places that having a large family is actually a benefit!  The local patch we go to is called Crawford Farms, they have some great attractions for the kiddos and for the adults.  It is free to go to the pumpkin patch itself, but the attractions are $5.00 per kid, $2.00 per adult for the day, 2 and under are free.  So for our family it would cost us $19.00 per day.  It really isn't too bad but they also offer season passes for a family up to 6 members for only $28.00....yeah we got the season pass! The season pass is good from September 24th through October 31st. I know that it is only two weeks till Halloween but we plan on going back on the 27th  (possibly the 28th too) and figured the season pass was a better deal!

You are entering Crawford Farms...reason I started going to this pumpkin patch (before I ever even knew about the attractions) they have a better sign from the road!!! All the other pumpkin patch's signs are tiny, I was able to find this one easily! Put a little bit of money into advertising and it may just pay off!

(My kiddos showing one of those rare affectionate moments that bring tears to my eyes and make me remember that they grow up way too fast! I really really love this photo!)

Are you ready to have fun?!?!?!?

 

First thing you see walking in is the Pumpkin Palace. (this is free) You can pick out pumpkins, gourds, and other things that I have no idea what they are.  The pumpkins range from $1.00 to $25.00 with the Jack O Lantern worthy pumpkins ranging between $4.00 to $8.00 not too bad. They also sell wood pallets with 10-20 pumpkins for $25.00. Last year I bought a pallet used 6 of them and gave the rest to family and friends.

Our Jack O Lanterns from 2011, five of the pallet pumpkins! Also is you look at the bottom right corner of the picture with my kids walking into the patch you can see what a pallet of pumpkins looks like, pretty good deal if I say so myself.

After you look around the Pumpkin Palace you can move on the the attractions, now you do have to pay for these but the prices are pretty reasonable.

This is the Barrel Ride, you can be a cow, horse, piggy, donkey or a sheep. Wow that tractor moves super fast and the kids really seemed to enjoy it! It does cost $2.00 each, but a lot of carnival rides at my kids school cost more than that.  Plus, this is supporting a local farm and I am very pro buying locally!

Bubby feeding the goats.  There is a Petting Zoo that includes goats, chickens, rabbits, sheep, and a donkey...a freaking donkey.  Garrett loved the animals and was really the only one of my kiddos that kept going back to them.  Baby Boogie just called every animal baby...no matter how many times I told her it was a bunny or a donkey.

There are little Photo Props that the kids can play on or in, that make for great photos.  There was this stagecoach, some corn wigwams, hay bales, scarecrows and many more.

Monkey helping Baby Boogie through the baby maze!! Mazes! There are two children friendly (they can do them alone) mazes and two family mazes.  There was the smallest maze (I kept calling it the baby maze) that was just some hay bales laid flat on the ground.  A (school kids) maze that you couldn't see over but was very very simple to get through. (no dead ends)  Then there are the family mazes ( no unaccompanied children) one is one acre long and the other is five acres long.  They both have games that you can play to find your way out.  We didn't do these mazes it was getting late in the evening and the kids were getting hungry so we decided to save these for another day.

The Slide! My kids LOVED the slide, it was all they really wanted to do.  Every once in a while they would wander off to check something out, but they just kept coming back to this main attraction!  It is pretty cool looking!

Monkey running up the hay bales to slide!

Babydoll was having so much fun she actually smiled for a picture!

Bubby enjoyed the outing so much, he actually consented to take a picture!

Baby Boogie wasn't as impressed with the slide, Jerm had just gotten off work so she was more interested in daddy! She did start saying "Moo" on the way home, she has never said "Moo" before and it is a little weird considering there were No cows there, but ohwell that is Boogie for you!

We had a great day and NO meltdowns at all! That is an amazing feat with four (by the end of the day) tired, hungry, cold kiddos! Ironically we didn't buy any pumpkins!  We were tired, cold and hungry so we decided to come back to play and buy our Pallet O Pumpkins.  Honestly I think Jerm and I were just feeling too lazy today to load all those flipping pumpkins in the car then unload them at home!  Wait!!! I lied I did buy six teeny tiny pumpkins that were three for a dollar, just cause they were really cute and I have a plan for them!!

Has your family visited a pumpkin patch this year? Was it a good experience or a child meltdown moment that left you wondering if all the lessons in good behavior really only happened in you imagination?

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