Bring On The Pumpkin Patches

That very first weekend of fall we rolled out of bed, stuffed ourselves with donuts and coffee, then headed to one of my favorite pumpkin farms right on the coast. Thanks to that nice ocean breeze it's always at least ten degrees cooler than where we live which was pretty much all the enticing we needed since our fall weather kicked off around 100 degrees. (I know a lot of you can commiserate!) When we got there, even though it was only supposed to be mid-70s, it felt hot. Good thing Joe vetoed my decision to dress the boys in warm clothes. Last year we dressed in shorts, and it wound up being cold. This tricky California weather always fools me. Apparently I can never get it right.

As soon as we got there Ez and Declan beelined for the goats in the petting zoo. There was a long line of them sticking their heads through the fence and Declan was immediately fascinated. Ez was a little more cautious but once he finally stuck his hand out he thought it was hilarious to feel them licking his fingers. Lately Ez has been finding everything hilarious and he constantly gets fits of giggles. It's contagious and we all end up laughing, even though we usually have no idea what started it in the first place. I love that boy so much. As for me, I'm not a huge fan of goats after a traumatizing petting zoo experience as a kid when one tried to eat my coat. I tried to get over my fears and tentatively stuck my hand out to pet a cute little baby goat who immediately nibbled my fingers. Still not a fan of goats.

After the soulless goats it was onto the good part. Pumpkins! There were piles of them everywhere. All different colors and varieties. I had my heart set on one of each. So we grabbed a wheelbarrow, the kids piled inside, and we went pumpkin hunting. Declan thought the wheelbarrow ride was basically the best part of the whole day. He was bumping along in front, cracking up. Ez took his pumpkin picking very seriously, and insisted on picking them up and carrying them himself. In the end I stuck with three pumpkins - a striped, a white, and a green/gray one. Great restraint on my part.

Our trip to Lemos Farm just wouldn't be complete without a pony ride. Ez was so independent and proud of himself to ride one last year that we had to do it again. More on that soon! After pumpkins we took our overtired kids out to lunch nearby. The server was kind enough to bring over a stack of children's books to help calm our clearly unhappy kids. Declan promptly threw them on the floor. That'll teach her to be nice to strange little kids. After lunch both kids passed out on the car ride home and I'd say that our first pumpkin patch trip was a pretty successful one.

For our second trip to the pumpkin farm Gangy and Grampa joined us, which made it extra special. We just happened to go on the first day the farm was open this season, which means we had our pick of all the best pumpkins. Sunny but not warm weather, a day spent with family, and plentiful pumpkins, what more could a girl ask for?

On our first pumpkin patch trip the allure of pumpkins was lost on Declan. This time around he got in on the action and was lifting, rolling, and throwing pumpkins like a little baby Hulk. Ez took his pumpkin picking game to the next level and tried picking up the absolute biggest pumpkins he could find. When that didn't work he decided they made pretty good tables and chairs.

Even though we'd just traipsed three miles through a corn maze (more on that to come!) both boys seemed to have limitless energy when it came to running up and down each row of pumpkins. Give me some of that, please! Eventually all the adults were hungry, but since we had to walk past 3,000 thousand pumpkins to get to the exit, and each one of them was calling out to be picked up, examined, and rolled around, it took us awhile to get outta there.

I'm not gonna lie, I may have been a teensy part of the problem, since I couldn't help myself and picked out a few more Cinderella pumpkins. After we all felt content with our pumpkin picks Declan got one more ride in the wheelbarrow and then it was off to lunch with the grandparents. Both kids promptly fell asleep right before we got there and were in fabulous moods inside the restaurant. Declan amused himself with a coffee creamer packet that he figured out how to pop open in exactly 2.5 seconds. All over my hair and shirt. In other words it was a Disney movie on the phone kinda meal. After that it was pure silent bliss as we all devoured our well-earned meals. 

And there you have it, three days into October and we've already been to two pumpkin patches. I think Joe thinks we're all done. We'll just let him keep on thinking that ;)

31 Days of Halloween: Days 7 - 13

Day 7: I finally found a craft Ezzy likes! I got the idea for a contact paper sticky-wall decoration from I Heart Crafty Things. We had a ton of felt pumpkins leftover from the Michael's craft kit we used to make the pumpkin garland, and once I taped the contact paper to the wall and handed Ez a pumpkin he didn't need any instruction at all. He immediately went and stuck it on the wall. I cut out letters and the moon while he stuck on the pumpkins, bats, and cats. Eventually he tried sticking on his toy cars and pieces of trash, so we called it a day. I was just so excited that he actually participated. And I'm loving the Halloween decor of Ezzy's little reading corner. 

Day 8: I was outside raking up leaves when I looked up and noticed our neighbor's black cat (which we've nicknamed Sharpie) walking under the full moon. The picture didn't come out great, but it was very Halloweenish. 

Day 9: Putting my new Halloween cookie cutters to use with some festive toast and watermelon. Ezzy did not care in the least, and actually when I asked him if he wanted to eat the cat's tail he backed away in disgust, even though he loves pb&j. I wound up having to tear it all into bite-size pieces. Oh well...

Day 10: Mickey's Halloween Party! I already wrote about our Disney trip, but here are a few more pictures, and a little video of the fireworks show. It was seriously the best fireworks show I've ever seen, and for once we got a perfect spot, right in front of the castle. You may remember that Ez freaked out during the 4th of July fireworks show this year, and we wound up "watching" while on the run back to our car with a screaming toddler in our arms, so I had pretty low expectations for the Disney show. This time he stared and stared with the most serious, intent face. I'm going to take that as a sign that he liked it. We're thinking that maybe because there was also music, it masked the sound of the fireworks a little and made it more kid-friendly. 

Can I just say I've had This is Halloween, this is Halloween stuck in my head for days now?

This was Ez's expression for the entire show.

Day 11: Scoping out the kid's selection of Halloween movies on Netflix, which unfortunately is pretty sparse. Barney or Curious George about sums it up. They also have Nightmare Before Christmas, which we will get around to, hopefully this week!

Day 12: Another weekend, another pumpkin patch! This is my favorite pumpkin patch, they've got a huge selection of pumpkins that you pick right off the vine, a great little farmer's market, tractor rides, pumpkin shooting, a corn maze, the works. Since Ez is currently obsessed with pumpkins, this was basically his paradise. He kept trying to pick up huge pumpkins, and, of course, he loved riding in the wheel barrow with all his pumpkin loot. This is us last year vs. this year:

I capped off the evening with a pumpkin beer and the Walking Dead premier. Love that show!

Day 13: Another craft that Ez loved! We painted a couple of pumpkins, and unlike the first time we tried painting, when Ez ran away crying at the mere sight of paint (a week ago), this time he sat right down and dipped the brush in without any instruction from me. I did have to direct where he put the paint though, and a good amount of it wound up on him and the patio, but that's to be expected, and honestly, it made the whole thing that much cuter.

What kind of Halloween festivities are you and your family up to this week? Linking up with Courtney, Amanda, Jamie, and Jenny for their Countdown to Halloween linkup!

31 Days of Halloween: Days 1 - 6

Day 1: Along the way to our San Diego getaway we stopped at our first pumpkin patch/petting zoo of the season. First of all, can I just say what a difference a year makes? 

Ez in 2013

No more skinny, drooly baby letting us prop him up against pumpkin after pumpkin in various outfits for photo ops. Now we have to trail a wild-haired, chubby cheeked toddler all over the place, getting 17 blurry pictures for every one clear shot. I have to say, Halloween is much more exciting now that Ez is aware (somewhat) and mobile. He was definitely a huge fan of the pumpkins, as you can see below. We got him a mini one, and it is still one of his favorite "toys". 

My lil pumpkin hoarder.

Debating the merits of white vs. orange.

Choosing pumpkins is serious business.

Satisfied with his decision.

Ez was a little wary of the goats at first.

But they grew on him.

A lil petting zoo action:

Day 2: Pumpkin baking has been taking the social media and blogging world by storm, so we had to get in on the action. I made some really easy (read: lazy) pumpkin maple cookies. 

I improvised a pumpkin version of the Pillsbury cookie mix using 1/2 a can of pumpkin puree, 3 tablespoons melted butter, an egg, and a box of the cookie mix. Voila! We all devoured them.

Day 3: Halloween books!! Ez loves the lift-the-flaps on I Love You Little Pumpkin and that is one of his year round favorites. Also, now that he has his own pumpkins, he loves pointing out the pumpkins in his Halloween books. There's even a tiny pumpkin on the spine of I Love You Little Pumpkin that he always searches for and looks really proud of himself once he finds it. 

Day 4: This one's just for the parents who love being scared. Joe and I went to Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary for a date night this past weekend. The only other time we've been was when I was pregnant, 2 years ago. It is so creepy and so much fun. They have 6 mazes and 3 of them are actually aboard the ship. The Queen Mary was a really glamorous ship, and has had a ton of celebrity passengers. But during World War ll she transported wounded soldiers and because of all the people who died on board, she is now considered one of the most haunted places in the world. When we navigate the mazes, I usually make Joe go first and I cower behind him, but because Joe is big and a little intimidating, and I look like a scaredy cat, the monsters usually go right around him to scare me. The mazes are most fun when you're near a group of girls that screams every few feet. That makes it more comical than scary. Fun little sidenote - that creepy clown in the first picture below wound up being my friend's brother in law. He definitely stood out as one of the scariest monsters there (because nobody likes a creepy clown). 

Day 5: I attempted toddler crafts with Ez. My first attempt was going to be making knuckle paint pumpkins. Apparently Ez had a bad experience with paint in a past life though, cause he wouldn't even get near the paint without crying. Moving on to felt pumpkins with stick on diy faces (a kit I bought at Michael's for 50% off). I gave him one sticker to try on his own, but it got stuck to his finger which frustrated him, so he read I Love You Little Pumpkin while I decorated pumpkins. He is a fan of the finished product though, so I'll consider it a success as far as toddler crafts go.

Day 6: I decided to cut little holes in the pumpkins and string them up like a banner on Ez's Halloween-themed book shelf. It is now the most festive (aka - the only decorated) spot in the house.

What festive activities are you and your family doing to get in the Halloween/fall spirit?

Today I'm linking up with Courtney, Amanda, Jamie, & Jenny for their Countdown to Halloween series. I love checking out everyone's holiday fun!