Pumpkin Patch

 

Halloween is probably the one holiday that I spend the least time preparing for.  I love carved pumpkins but don't like the work.  I like crafting, but for some reason making costumes isn't my cup of tea.  And I don't typically decorate the house because I don't want to scare the kids, and most Halloween decorations are a little scary!  I've been really busy this month preparing for the benefit walk/run we're putting together in our neighborhood, and in typical fashion I have spent almost no time prepping for Saturday.  However, today we got in the spirit!

This morning I took the kids to the local orchard/pumpkin patch.  I dressed them in matching outfits and planned to get some good shots of them (I can't miss the chance, you know!?).

We first looked through the old barn turned market and picked out some decorations for the house.  Eli checked out the antique cider press and was thoroughly intrigued by all the gears.

After choosing some mini pumpkins, dried corn, and a few treats (hot apple cider and home made apple dumplings... mmmm) we headed outside.

  They don't run the tractors to the field to pick your own pumpkin during the week, so instead we settled for checking out the large array of pumpkins they had outside the barn.  The kids had a blast walking through the "maze" of pumpkins and sitting on the "roller-coaster" of rocks.

 

We took home our prizes and spent some time painting them with washable paints.  I'll have to be sure to keep these on the porch in case there's rain before Saturday!  

We still had a little time before Eli had to hop on the bus, so we fashioned a large spider web out of white acryllic yarn and a spider to climb on it from black trash bags.  The kids think our spider looks a lot like a black octopus, but I don't think he's so bad :)