Plumper Pumpkin patch

 It's October, so the children and I went pumpkin picking today - Plumper Pumpkin Patch!  It was a great visit to a fantastic outdoor playground. Sebastian had visited the place last year on a school field trip, but I hadn't been to this particular farm - last year we visited Lakeview Farms and the Sauvie Island pumpkin patch. It was fun to see a new place.

We gathered our pumpkins first, before the crowds arrived. Sebastian took possession of an enormous wheelbarrow, as usual, and Liesl ran off to find her perfect pumpkin.

And then we were off to check out the rest of the enormous pumpkins, ghost pumpkins, crazy speckled gourds, etc etc.  The farm had set up their fallow field with an array of activities - obstacle courses, tube slides, hay bales for jumping, and our personal favorite, pumpkin bowling.

We also said hello to the various farm animals - pigs, chickens, turkeys, goats, cows, donkeys, rabbits, and alpacas. 

The farm had set up air cannons and was shooting off apples, corncobs, and pumpkins into an empty field. I thought it was pretty awesome, but the children were somewhat nervous about the sound of the shooting cannon.  And finally, we took a somewhat bumpy hay ride behind a smelly tractor (Seb's favorite), Liesl got to ride a pony in a tiny circle, and the kids finished up with a barrel train ride.