A week before Halloween we made our annual trip to Janoski's Pumpkinland. This is our 3rd visit. We always go with Mark's sisters Luciann and Vanessa. This year his sister Michele joined us too. The kids love going to the pumpkin farm. This year they were finally old enough to really do almost everything.
First we went to the animal petting area. They were really in to the animals this year. Abby started "feeding" them. That consisted of taking some hay and tossing it in their general direction. The other kids started doing it too. There is a no feeding the animals rule but since they weren't actually feeding I just let them do it. They petted several animals too.
After the petting zoo they got in line to ride the ponies. Last year Katie was too scared to ride. She had a panic attack when we tried to get her to do it. Then, later in the day she wanted to ride but the line was too long. She spent the next few months accusing me of not "letting" her ride the ponies. This year there was no drama. All 3 of them happily got on their pony. Ben looked especially thrilled about his ride.
Next it was time to get on the hayride to pick the pumpkins. Katie and Abby decided on their pumpkin relatively easily. Ben took longer. He kept picking up pumpkin after pumpkin. Then he was causing pumpkins to roll down the hill on to another row of pumpkins. We had to stop that behavior quickly. Finally we managed to convince him to pick a pumpkin and took a few pictures of the kids before getting on the hayride again.
We ate lunch at the concessions. Abby ate her weight in funnel cake, I think! Then the girls had their faces painted for the first time. They played on the swings and were able to ride the tricycles with a little assistance. There was a place where they could jump in the hay and play with dried corn. What a big mess! They were covered in hay but enjoyed every minute of it. I think this is the only year I managed to get all 3 of them to stand in front of the "how tall are you this year" sign.
We then made our way out of Pumpkinland and in to the greenhouse area. The kids helped Luciann pick out a big pumpkin to carve. They also helped me pick out mini pumpkins and corn to use as decorations. Ben once again got in trouble for tipping pumpkins. Not a good thing when the pumpkins for sale are rolling across the parking lot because of my kid!
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| Stop tipping the pumpkins over! |
Then it was MY time. We went to the market and I got to shop. Yummy baked goods, fresh local produce and pickles and jelly made without crappy ingrediants. I am going to miss going to this pumpkin farm.
After we left we went back to the aunts' house for pumpkin carving and a pizza party. All in all it was a great day!
