first ohio pumpkin farm

the moms' group i have been attending had a field trip to a local pumpkin farm.  i say "local" but it was more than a 30 minute drive and was actually pretty close to our new house. i was pretty excited about it (i am still like a little kid with all the fall and winter activities!).  the problem was that it had been raining for days and the forecast wasn't great for for trip.  the group decided that we would go rain or shine since there was an indoor portion.  so we hit the road.

it did not rain one drop the entire time we were there!  there was a lot of standing water, but the mud wasn't too bad overall.  i did come prepared with bags for our boots so that we wouldn't have to wear the muddy boots in the car.

there were several group and a lot of 'walk-ups' (schools were closed friday) and the farm staff was fantastic about handling everyone.  we had a wonderful time and plan on bringing daddy next year!

there was an automated 'guide' at the entrance that scared the kids at first, but once i walked them up they relaxed - a little.

the inside 'barn' area had some animals to hold/pet, a corn 'pit' with a slide, a hay bale maze/tunnel and picnic tables. the hay bale maze/tunnel was something where the kids climbed up a 'staircase' of hay and went down a slide before going into a 'tunnel' were sheets of plywood were laid over the top of some hay bales to make a 'tunnel'. a very long, dark tunnel.  madelyn made it down the slide before she started screaming for me.  mason only made it to the top of the slide.  madelyn went through it several times after she was able to follow another little girl through first.  mason stuck with the corn 'pit'.  by the way, madelyn said that the corn pit was her favorite part.

due to maddux' tendency to put everything he can touch in his mouth, he spent most of the trip in the stroller but still had a great time.

one of the activities for our group was face painting.  they asked for a few of the moms to help with the painting.  one painted the yellow moon, i painted an orange circle (to be a pumpkin) and green 'grass', then another mom painted a face on the pumpkin before a farm employee added bats, a cat, or other detail.  madelyn and mason were pretty excited about it and both chose bats.

after we finished up in the barn we got to go on a 'hay ride' (there wasn't really any hay).  they drove us to another section of the farm to pick pumpkins and then drove a little more to let us pick some small gourds.

madelyn was pretty happy about her selection.

they dropped us off near the cars so that we could put our pumpkins and gourds in our cars instead of carrying them around.  then we got to go feed some of their animals.  each child was given a small bucket of feed to hold out for the animals to eat from.  the kids fed calves, ducks, geese, sheep, bunnies and chickens.  i think mason enjoyed this part the most.

there was a cute pumpkin photo op near the animals, but i think i was the only one who snapped a few pictures.  mason was more interested in feeding the animals, but he did finally come over for one picture.  for whatever reason it is so blurry that it isn't even usable.  oh well.  next year.

and last on our list of group activities was an oil drum train ride.  i was a little nervous about letting mason go on it because i was a little afraid that he might try to get out if he decided that he didn't like it, but i should not have even considered mason getting out of a train ride.  he did really great and actually looked like he was going to fall asleep when they came back.

then we ate our packed lunch before heading for home (well, i couldn't resist and stopped by the house to see if they had finished up the touch ups ahead of our move next week).  one more stop to pose in "cinderella's carriage" (per madelyn's naming) for a "prince" and "princess" picture.

very fun.  we will certainly come back next year!  love.