Visiting the pumpkin patch each year is one of my very favorite traditions that we've done since before we had children. For the past 10 plus years, we've visited Carmichael Pumpkin Patch. It's about an hour drive from our house, but we'd always enjoyed ourselves had good experiences so we felt like it was worth it. However, last year and the year before, our experience wasn't as good as it had been in years before. They had made some changes to the pumpkin patch . . . namely added many animals and lots of extra things that cost additional money. We didn't mind the animals except that they weren't kept very clean and whole place smelled like a farm due to the increased number of animals. Also, the kids wanted to do alllllll the extra activities, and we got tired of saying "no" to everything (or, paying extra to do it).
I've said this on here several times before, but when we stop enjoying a tradition, I believe it's time to re-evaluate. Chris and I talked about it and decided to try a different pumpkin patch this year. We actually really enjoy the Bit-by-Bit pumpkin patch that we've visited for the past five years, but they are only open during the daytime and that means I can never get good photos. Since photos are important to me, I wanted to go to a place where we would enjoy ourselves AND I could get the photos I wanted.
Upon the recommendation of a friend, we decided to try Pleasant Valley Farms this year. We were hoping to find a place closer to us, but there just aren't many good options in our town. We mapped our way to Pleasant Valley and saw that it would take about an hour to drive out there. However, that's about the same as we had been driving to Carmichael, so we decided to give it a try.
We planned our visit for Friday, October 26th. This is later in the season than we normally go, but it took me a while to decide to abandon tradition and try something new. What can I say . . . I'm not always great about wanting to try new things, haha. Chris got off work a little early, and we started heading out there around 4:00pm. As we continued to drive and drive and DRIVE off the highway, through town, down country roads, and eventually onto a gravel road, Chris and I both started to doubt that we'd ever make it. Finally, though, we arrived!
Welcome to Pleasant Valley Farms!
We weren't too sure what to expect, but immediately we loved it! It was so cozy, clean, and cute, and it wasn't too busy so the kids could run around and really have fun. That was another issue we had with Carmichael . . . sometimes it was so busy that we felt like we couldn't really enjoy ourselves or let the kids get more than 10 inches from our sides.
The kids know my rule . . . let me get the pics I want first and then we'll have fun! The weather was beautiful and the sun was in the perfect spot for photos. Yay!
Brianna
Brenson
Brooke
Brecklyn
As soon as I got the photos I wanted, we started exploring the place.
Brecklyn was not happy to be standing by this scarecrow, haha!
Isn't this great?!?
There were lots of activities set up around the perimeter of where the pumpkins were. Water games are always a hit with my crew!
The lighting was so perfect I couldn't resist taking individual pics with my babies.
Brianna and Momma
And, I got some pics of Chris with the kids, too.
Brianna and Daddy
Daddy and Brecklyn
Momma and Brooke
💜
Bren and Momma
Brecklyn and Momma
We asked a passerby to take a family photo for us. This is something we do fairly often, and it rarely turns out well. Most people, although nice about it, just don't know how to take a decent photo. However, this time I am SO happy with the results! This is my new favorite family photo!!!
They had a cute little train set up that the kids really enjoyed. Since we see trains almost daily, the kids know just how to "play train"!
One activity that kids always love (and I kind of hate) is the corn pit. I really don't understand the fascination here because I find it to be gross, but my kids will play in this pretty much as long as we let them. They did get a good bit of play time in before other kids came along and decided to throw the corn and play waaaay rough. At that point, we moved along!
I guess I'm the only one in the family that thinks it's gross because Daddy joined right in on the fun! Later, when we were using the bathroom before we left, the girls pulled their pants down and corn fell out everywhere, lol! We always find it in their clothes for hours afterwards!
One really neat thing that was set up was this game where you pull a circle with a ball in it up by two ropes. The goal it to get it to the top without letting the ball drop through one of the holes in the board. It takes a lot of concentration and purposeful guiding the ropes to accomplish the task. Bren, of course, loved this! He spent a long time working at it and was successful several times!
He is getting so tall. Seriously.
Even though we were late in the season, there were still plenty of pumpkins to choose from!
💜💙💜💗
While I was taking this pic, Brianna noticed a lady walk up and point her camera at the girls. I didn't see her, but Brianna was pretty disturbed by it. Later, the lady came up to me and told me how cute the girls are, and said that she was super tempted to take their pic but she didn't. I hope that's the truth. I've been surprised several times by strangers asking to take pics of the girls!
While Daddy was paying for the pumpkins, we found out that there was a free hayride. Yes, please! Chris struck up a conversation with the owner of the land, and we had a great visit with him. It's so beautiful out there, and we loved hearing a little history of the pumpkin patch!
Brecklyn and Brooke were ready for the hayride!
Actually, we were all excited!
Daddy decided to take his pic while we were moving, so it's a little blurry :-). The hayride ended up being really long . . . probably the longest one I've been on. We got to see a lot of the land, and it was right when the sun was setting so the scenery was just gorgeous.
After the hayride, we let the kids play on some huge slides for a little while before we decided to head home. Chris took a different route home that seemed faster, and we stopped at Taco Bueno for dinner. We were SO happy with our decision to try Pleasant Valley this year. The overall experience was exactly what we hoped it would be, and we have no plans to return to our tradition of visiting Carmichael's. AND, I love the photos :-).
The next morning (Saturday), Lisa and I had made plans to visit the Bit-by-Bit pumpkin patch together with our crew. We knew it would be a totally different experience than Pleasant Valley, and visiting a pumpkin patch with the Earls is a tradition we want to KEEP.
The kids couldn't wait to play in another corn pit. Ugh, lol. Notice Daddy is right there in the middle of it again!
One of the things we love about Bit-by-Bit is the animals. There are only a few, you can feed them, and they are clean. Plus, we know their names since we see them every year :-).
Brenson and Brooke
Brecklyn, Brenson, and Brooke
Brecklyn loves animals, so this was right up her alley!
Brianna has always enjoyed feeding the animals.
Of course, the kids wanted to ride the little train. They had fun, but I noticed this year the three big kids are starting to get too big for it 😢. WHY is time such a thief?!?
This crazy crew needed some jail time!
Haha!
Before choosing a few pumpkins, we took a little hayride. It's always fun to ride past the horses and see what they're up to.
Cousin BFFs
This particular hayride wasn't the best experience we've ever had. The kids were at each other, Brecklyn kept crying, and everyone was hungry. Sometimes it just goes like that!
We chose a few more little pumpkins and headed to lunch with the Earls. Visiting Bit-by-Bit is another autumn tradition that we love, even if I can't ever get good pics there, lol.
No comments:
Post a Comment