me and mine: Pumpkin Patch Adventures

Since Maisie's birth I have dreamed about the day of taking her to her first pumpkin patch. For many reasons, but I think mainly because I have memories as a little girl taking family trips to the pumpkin patch and so naturally, I wanted to make some with Maisie! Fall is by far my favorite season. The crisp air, comforting food and an excuse to make some cider (or hot chocolate) and light a fire. Plus, picking and carving pumpkins is a great bonus too! So today Austin and I took Maisie to her first pumpkin patch(es).

Friends of ours recommended Kruger Farms and so, that was our first stop of the day. It was a fantastic little drive. The farm is actually located on an island (Sauvie Island) and so there is a huge river that runs right next to the farm. It was still a bit chilly when we got there and the morning dew was starting to dry, but it was still a very muddy adventure. Okay, anyone who goes to a pumpkin patch thinking there will be no mud involved is in for a rude awakening right? So first stop was the organic market where we bought some caramel apples and cider. Oh yeah we also bought some farm fresh corn as well. They seriously just picked it so we couldn't pass it up! Then we walked the pumpkin patch in search for a great first pumpkin for Maisie and I think we found it. Personally, I love a pumpkin with a personality and those perfect "magazine cover" pumpkins just are too blah. So we found one that's a little lop sided and with an extra long stem. It is the perfect shade orange and has tons of vertical grooves. I would say we did a great job, now we just have to figure out what to carve on it.

Next stop was supposed to be Roloff Farms (the little people big world folks) but as we pulled up to the farm we noticed that they are only open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Lame! Plus you have to pay for parking! Eh, oh well. So instead of Roloff Farms we went to Plumper Farm. It was so quaint and fun. There were tons of beautiful flowers (especially sunflowers!!) and some animals too. Maisie was pretty much sleeping through this whole farm because it was during her afternoon nap time. So we just pushed her in her stroller and let her sleep. Maisie is not very happy when shes tired, but who is?

We then came home where we grilled our farm fresh corn and made another delicious gluten free meal. It turned out to be a wonderful and sunny (who would have thought that?) day. I am sure we will most likely go to another one before Halloween comes because I still would like to go to my favorite one in Canby. But for now I am very satisfied. We had a wonderful time as a family and so, Maisie's first pumpkin patch experience was a great success!

Here are a few of the pictures we took today. Enjoy!

Sunflowers!