Pumpkin Patch

The day after our anniversary, we were invited by uncle Jason, and Alisa, and Evan to go to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins! Matt and I suggested Hillridge Farms in Youngsville, since we had gone there for their annual Haunted Hayride right after we got married, and had remembered them having lots of fun things for kids. We had no idea they had changed so much over the years, they now have tons of fun things for kids! We picked up Kenna from her Grandaddy and Nana's house since they kept her overnight for us for our anniversary date, and headed out to the farm.

The Broglis

The DeansKenna was a little bit small to enjoy some of the activities, but we had a blast watching Evan play and we all enjoyed the farm! They had some really creative things set up such as a huge slide made of corrugated plastic tubing, a hay bale jump house, and a corn kernel sandbox (I'm not sure whether Evan, Jason, or Matt loved the slide best!) Matt's favorite was, of course, feeding the goats, and I loved seeing the little baby ones hiding under the shed for shade. We somehow managed to find the one 80 plus degree weather day to go to the farm in a week of weather that had us convinced it was finally fall! Hillridge also had bouncy houses, a maze, a train (similar to the one at Pullen Park), other animals to see, duck races, a general store, and a hot dog stand for lunch! Everything except lunch was $10 per adult (Kenna was free) and we each got a pumpkin!

Feeding the goats:
The giant slide!

We went on a tractor hayride through the whole farm to get to our pumpkins. (It counted as a "real hayride" to me since we actually sat on hay bales during the ride. That's an important detail for it to be real!)
At the end, we were deposited in a bright sea of pumpkins. Kenna and Evan weren't sure what to think or which one to pick!

Orange pumpkins everywhere!

I think we like this one. (Kenna kept making this crazy face most of the time. I think she was just amazed at all the pumpkins!)

Kenna and Daddy with the winner!

Even though it was too hot to wear her pumpkin shirt (since it was long sleeved) we took a fun family picture amongst all the pumpkins to remember Kenna's first fall. It's so hard to believe that this time last year we went to Boone for the fall leaves and pumpkins, and we were still 8 months pregnant and hadn't even met her yet!

October 2009:

October 2008:

What a great day with family and a fun tradition! My favorite part, of course, was bringing our little "pumpkin family" home and putting them on the porch with our gourds from the farmer's Market and our fall twig wreath on the door.
Welcome, Fall!