Pumpkin Patch Tradition

We don't see too many fall colors here. Too mild of a climate, I think. I thought this tree was lovely, though, on Saturday at the high school where Austin has his soccer games. We do see a few trees change colors. :) Sunday we went to the early service at church, back home to change clothes, then out to lunch at Chile's. Austin got a free molten lava cake for celebrating his birthday. He didn't make a peep about sharing with everyone. ;) After lunch we headed to the pumpkin patch. It's just too hard to do on a Saturday with his midday soccer games; this coming Saturday his game's at 10, and we're having his birthday party.


We planned to go to the Avila Barn patch, but drove by and it was swarming with people! No fun! That's no farm experience. Ha! So we went back to the patch we've gone to the last two years, La Familia.

They have a corn maze we went through.

The corn looked different than any corn I'd ever seen. Strange {different} looking tassels, and no ears of corn. When we were buying our pumpkins in the barn, I asked an older man (one of the family who owns the farm) what that corn was. He said it is broom corn. It has no ears, it's not used for animal feed, but in the old days people made brooms from it. I thought that was interesting.

This farm is out in the country--lots of other farms around it.

They had some "normal" corn growing too. ;)

All the kids got to choose a pumpkin with a # less than 5 on it. Ha ha. ;) I think our total came to $7? $8 when we checked out.

Austin was Mr. Farmer himself. Or so he thought. Or maybe he just thought it was fun pushing something with wheels. He's liked things with wheels since he was about a year old, after all. ;) He pushed the wheelbarrow with our pumpkins in it to the barn where you pay, and did a good job not tipping it over.

The kids still want to go to the Avila Barn patch, so I might take them there a day after school. I'd thought maybe this week, but it's rained all day today, more is supposed to come tomorrow, so I'm thinking the pumpkin patch might be a mucky mess this week. ?! We'll see!