Sunscreen and Pumpkins

Three fall festivals, two pumpkin patches, one farm, seven goats, four sheep, three pigs, two llamas, one donkey, three haystack pyramids, five mini-me pumpkins, and one Howden-Biggie Pumpkin … yeah it was pumpkin patch harvest fall festival madness this weekend. But in truth the only thing we seemed to harvest was a nice tan in the 80-degree heat that is Southern California during Autumn.

In retrospect I could have saved time and money in addition to avoiding stress by just going to Trader Joe’s and buying a pumpkin there. However, there  would still be parking war madness because their parking lots are always so small, but there would be no crowds and no screaming kids. I think I’d prefer to battle the parking lot, than to witness the kindergartener’s meltdown and the mom’s frustration.

But if that were to happen I wouldn’t have traditions or memories. And you know how parents are …  always trying to have fun, make memories, and give our city kids the whole Great Big Pumpkin Farm experience. So … it was sunscreen and pumpkins for The Guat Clan. Sunscreen and pumpkins: that’s how we roll.

 

 

And this is how we start …

 

Checking out the scene before we tackle the harvest festival pumpkin madness.

 

Then we discovered a maze that was just right for the Little Guats. Running through the hay maze was a much better experience then getting lost in the corn maze.

 

The classic pyramid was something we saw at all three festivals and something they often look forward to climbing.

 

The trampoline alternative meant no crowds and no crazy kids attacking my kids. It also meant the beginning of our tanning process and my kids catching some serious air.

 

 

But the best part of the day was not the jumping, it was the awesome cow tractor train ride that zig-zagged throughout one of the farms.

 

The second best part for them seemed to be the petting zoo.

 

She was fearless during the petting part even though the animals were much bigger.

 

We also got hands on with the milking stations. It being the first time he milked a fake cow, he seemed to be doing it well.

 

The bulldozers, dump trucks and diggers seemed to be popular at this fall festival. I think it was the corn kernels.

 

After all of our activities, we moved on to find our Great Pumpkin — the one that would provide us with awesome pumpkin seeds and our Jack-O-Lantern experience.

 

While investigating the pumpkin patch, my son found the life cycle of the pumpkin and decided to educate his little sister.

 

Once we found our pumpkin, and finished educating ourselves on the farm life, we made our way home.

 

 

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