One of our Autumn traditions every year is visiting a pumpkin patch (. . . or two . . . or three!) It's something that I dreamed of doing with my children years before they were born, and it's one thing that we're sure to not miss each year!
This year, we visited two different pumpkin patches. The first one we went to was on Saturday, October 14th, and it was the Bit-by-Bit Pumpkin Patch in Oologah. This is one of the patches we have added to our list of yearly visits, but we weren't actually planning on going this day. We were at the church building that morning for a service project, and then to clean the building (we take turns cleaning every month and October was our month). After we finished cleaning, we went to lunch with Russ, Lisa, and Chloe Jo, then decided to go to the pumpkin patch after lunch. I wasn't sure how the twins would do since we were visiting during what is normally their nap time, but it all worked out fine!
The first thing we did upon arriving at the pumpkin patch was take a hay ride. As usual, it was a windy and warm afternoon!
Brooke and Brecklyn
This photo is hilarious to me . . . the kids were all being blinded by the sun and wind!
Chloe Jo and Brianna
Bren and Momma
Me and the Daddy-O
Brooke and Brecklyn (they really enjoyed this despite their faces in this photo!)
Brianna (she loved seeing the horses as we rode by)
Brenson (who was more interested in the tractor than anything!)
As soon as we got off the hay ride, we sent the kids to jail :-).
Brecklyn was not impressed, haha!
One of the things we really enjoy about this pumpkin patch is the animals. They have a barn with just a few tame animals in it that they allow patrons to feed. Our kids (especially Brianna) always enjoy this activity!
Brecklyn is definitely a little more timid with the animals than Brooke is, although they both love them.
Brooke
Brenson (notice he isn't feeding the pony from his hand)
Brianna
Our family . . . definitely one of my favorite family photos from this year! I wanted to have the animals in the photo, but our "little" family blocked them out, haha.
Another thing our kids really enjoy about this pumpkin patch is the little train ride.
The first year we came here, Lisa and I rode with the children on the train. However, since that year, adults are no longer allowed to ride on the train. Hee hee.
Of course, we had to go feed the sheep who aren't in the barn after the train ride.
Chelle, Brianna, Brooke, Lisa
Brianna, Chelle, Brecklyn, Chloe Jo, Brooke
Chelle, Brianna, Brooke, Brecklyn, Chloe Jo, Brenson
Chloe Jo, Chelle, Brooke, Brecklyn
The kids certainly enjoy the hay ride, animals, and train, but they're very favorite activity is the corn pit. Which is kind of gross if you ask me :-). But, they love it, so we can't pass it up.
This year, they had this blue bucket on a pulley. The bucket had a hole in the bottom, so the kids would let it down, fill it with corn, and raise it up to make it rain corn on everyone. They did this over and over and over again. It just didn't get old to them!
Running through the obstacle course . . . I couldn't believe Brooke scrambled to the top of that hay bale, but I should have known! She's always been my climber.
Chloe Jo - queen of the hay bale!
We only had about an hour and a half to spend at the patch, but it was plenty of time. We find ourselves enjoying this one more and more as each year passes and improvements are made!
I'll talk about this more below, but we're thinking very seriously about making this our last year to visit Carmichael. There are several reasons for this, but the distance from our house is a big factor, for sure.
The kids know that when we get to the pumpkin patch, the first thing we do is take pictures. I love these photos every year, and I have to get my pictures before we do anything else! This is great motivation for the kids to cooperate :-).
Brenson
Brianna
Brecklyn
Brooke
The twins are at the most difficult age to get good pics, but they were doing great this night!
Brecklyn, Brooke
The little girls were really trying hard to smile for me :-).
This pumpkin patch also has lots of animals, but the past few years we haven't really enjoyed them like we have in the past. There are a lot in a small area, and they are stinky, loud, and overfed. Some of them can be really aggressive, too, because I think they just see SO many people throughout the season. I don't always remember it being this way, but it certainly was this year.
Brecklyn, Brianna
Brenson
Daddy helping Brecklyn, Brooke, Brianna, Brenson
Brenson and Momma
The girls were more scared of these animals (like I said above, they were a little aggressive).
Brianna
Brecklyn, Brooke, Brianna, and Brenson watching the piglets
Brooke and Brecklyn looking at the tiny piglets
Daddy and Brianna
Momma and Brianna
Daddy and Brooke
We always enjoy letting our littles ride in the wagon and pick out a few pumpkins to take home.
Brooke, Brecklyn
I can't get over how tall Brenson has gotten! He's already over four feet!
Notice that Brianna is barely taller than Bren.
Brecklyn is topping out at three feet.
And Brooke is three feet plus an inch or so!
Daddy and Brenson
Daddy and Brecklyn
Brecklyn and Momma
Every year when we go, I ask a random person to take a family photo for us. And, every year I've been really happy with the photo! I try to choose a person that looks like they've used a camera before and that maybe has kids of their own. This year, Chris and I scoped out this lady who was wearing a big, professional looking camera. When we asked her to take our photo, she told us she'd be happy to since she was just waiting on her client to get there. We assumed she was referring to a photography client. I was super disappointed when I saw the photos because I thought we'd chosen a promising photographer.
This was the first one . . . Brooke is almost cut out and I hate that box behind me!
This is the second one after I cropped it waaaay in and did my best to fix the brightness. It was beyond backlit, and I wish she would have told us the lighting was bad so we could've chosen a different spot :-(. Oh well.
This pumpkin patch offers several fun activities such as pony rides, camel rides, a hay ride, a corn maze, etc, but everything costs extra. That another thing we don't love about it. At the other pumpkin patch, you pay a small entrance fee and can do any activity you want as many times as you want. It makes it so much easier (and cheaper in the end) for our family to pay one fee!
We passed on the pony rides this year, but we did pay for our family to do the hay ride. It was pretty lame, honestly.
Momma and Brooke
Waiting patiently for the hay ride that literally went in a circle around some grass.
We feel like the overall experience of this pumpkin patch has just really gone downhill through the years, while the price of everything keeps rising. I hate to break a tradition, but I think we may look for a different option next year.
After our pumpkin patch visit, we always go to eat. For several years, we went to Chik-fil-a, but last year we broke that tradition and went for pizza instead. We decided to stick with pizza this year!
This pizza place is always fun because they bring the kids dough to play with until the food comes. I can always count on Brianna to give me a good picture :-)!
Brooke and Brecklyn thought the dough was fantastic!
Last year we had some family drama at this pizza place that ended in frustrated and angry parents. I was determined to make a better memory this year, and we were successful! Things certainly aren't always perfect or easy, but we are ever thankful for the opportunity to do better!
No comments:
Post a Comment