Pumpkin Patch

There are some great perks to living where we live. Vancouver is beautifully green, with a small town and rural feel (even though it is only 10 minutes from Portland). Within a few minutes of our home we can see horses, cows, llamas, sheep, chickens, etc. Some of my favorite spots are the Christmas tree farms (with trees of all sizes, from one foot tall to 9 feet tall) and the pumpkin patches. I don't remember ever going to a "real" pumpkin patch before we moved here.

Last Saturday we made our fourth annual pilgrimage to the Bi-Zi Farms Pumpkin Patch/Carnival. We lucked out, and experienced absolutely perfect fall weather . . . crisp and cool, yet sunny and dry. As we arrived, bluegrass music was playing on the stage. The kids climbed a hay bale tower, rode tiny tractors, ran through a small maze, and then a large corn maze, sent pumpkins flying across a field using a cool "pumpkin launcher," visited the farm animal petting zoo, ground corn to feed to the animals, and pressed apple cider.
On the hay bale tower.

Launching pumpkins, using a huge (20 foot) slingshot.
The goal of the pumpkin launch is to get your pumpkin into the barrel of water in the distance. Bailey's pumpkin landed on the ground, but then bounced in!
Joseph checked out Thanksgiving dinner.
Aubrey had quite a conversation with this very friendly animal.The kids like the big corn maze much more than Dan and I like it. We always feel instinctively panicked, as we are lost and trying to find our way out. It doesn't help when half our group runs around and gets lost separately. Somehow, we all made it out!

Next we rode on a cart pulled by a tractor to the pumpkin fields. There are acres and acres of pumpkin fields, stretching almost as far as we could see. Most years the fields are muddy, but this year there had been no rain in weeks, so the fields were dry. After we unloaded from the cart, we each began our earnest search for the perfect pumpkin. It's serious business, you know. The girls walk around until they find the pumpkin which has been "waiting" for them.
Riding the tractor past the corn maze to the pumpkin patch.


Good for us - we remembered to bring grocery bags with which to carry back our pumpkins. Because these are not cleaned, neatly stacked grocery store pumpkins. These are on-the-vine, covered in dirt clods, authentic pumpkins. And, we have discovered in past years, holding them on the cart ride back tends to make us covered in dirt, also!

To end our perfect afternoon, Joseph and Aubrey rode ponies. Joseph was thrilled, Aubrey was a little bit "I'm too old for this, but whatever pleases you, Mom."
It was a fantastic way to spend a fall Saturday afternoon. We were just in time, too. Starting the very next day, it started to rain, and it still hasn't let up. Winter is upon us!