Welcome, December! Who can believe it's already the last month of the year?!?
We decided we would kick off this month with a little Christmas outing since we already have the house all decorated and ready for festive fun. Back at the end of October, we visited Pleasant Valley Farms about an hour from our house. We had such a great time (and I love the pics I took that evening) that we decided to visit again. This time, of course, it was all set up for Christmas instead of as a pumpkin patch.
Brenson, Brooke, Brianna, Brecklyn
Back before visiting Pleasant Valley in October, we had heard all about the activities available that made it a fun pumpkin patch. We actually didn't know they also offered Christmas activities until the owner mentioned it to us during our pumpkin patch visit. We had no idea what to expect, except that Santa would be there.
Brecklyn and Brooke were so excited to check everything out. I loved how they were walking hand-in-hand!
We began our visit at the little gift shop. Although the weather was just a touch chilly, there was a fire blazing in the wood stove and free hot cocoa and apple cider. Everything felt so cozy! There was even a cat in the gift shop sitting all snug by the fire that Brooke and Brecklyn thought they needed to pet. The cat was patient with them until Brooke touched its paw, then she got scratched :-(. In typical Brooke fashion, she didn't fuss or cry and actually made excuses for the cat. She kept telling us that it scratched her "by accident" and it was NOT a mean cat, haha!
Brianna, Brenson, Brooke, Brecklyn
They still had the same train set up for the kids to play on, but this time it was all decorated for winter.
And, just like with the pumpkin patch, there were lots of photo opportunities!
Daddy and Bren . . . so handsome 💙
Bri and Momma 💜
Brooke and Momma . . . no, she didn't want to pause to take a photo with me!
Momma and Brecklyn 💗
Pretty quickly after we arrived, we went to find Santa. He was located in a cute little house, and there was no wait at all to see him. The little girls have never been a fan of Santa, but this year was better! As you can see, they actually sat on his lap!
When Santa asked what the kids wanted for Christmas, Brianna was the only one who had an answer. She said she wanted an Elf on the Shelf (sorry kid, not happening!). The other kids all told Santa they didn't know what they wanted for Christmas. Hmmmm, I guess that means they'll be fine with no presents this year *grin*.
When we "met" Santa a few weeks ago at Dickens on the Boulevard (here), Santa looked legit, but he didn't really act like Santa. We were shuffled in and out very quickly, and he didn't even ho-ho-ho. This Santa, however, was pretty impressive. He had the ho-ho-ho down AND he looked legit, too. He was even sitting in a sleigh!
After our visit with Santa, we decided to take advantage of the free wagon ride through the Christmas tree farm.
We didn't realize it before visiting, but the Christmas Tree Farm is the main attraction of Pleasant Valley during the Christmas season. There were quite a few families out there cutting down their Christmas tree. We had no plans to cut or purchase a tree, so we snapped a few pics instead.
Brooke, Brecklyn
Brianna
Brenson (I'm not sure what's going on with this boy's hair, but those eyes are gorgeous!)
Brooke
Brecklyn
I look like a ghost in the photo below, but I wanted a pic of us without the kiddos 💓.
We let the children run around and play for a bit, but we exhausted the activities available pretty quickly. We were probably out there about an hour and a half before we left to do some shopping (which was CRAZY because it was late afternoon on a Saturday in December) and grab dinner at Hideaway Pizza. We had a good time - and it was definitely beautiful - but I'm not sure we'll add visiting Pleasant Valley to our list of Christmas traditions. Unless, that is, we decide to start getting a real tree!
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