Pumpkin picking

When we left church today, it was overcast and not looking so good, but after lunch the sun came out and the temperature climbed.  So, what better to do than visit the pumpkin patch?

We headed up to Spencer Farms to find our conquest.  We visited there last year and really enjoyed their setup.  You can walk to the pumpkin patch fairly easily, but we like to wait for the hayride to take us out there.  It gives a chance to see all that the farm is producing and where they have planted things this year (crop rotation anyone?).  The driver will fill people in on what has been happening this year, what they have planted and the wildlife activity.

Look at the smiling faces!

So after a fun and bouncy ride around the property, we arrived at the first pumpkin field.  They had three planted; two that had carving pumpkins growing and one that had pie pumpkins.  We traipsed around looking for our carving pumpkin while trying not to trip over the network of vines strung everywhere.  Lydia was the winner this year for finding our choice pumpkin.  After that we headed over to the pie pumpkin patch where we let each of the kids pick one out.  These are obviously easier for them to carry, and now that we have 4 kids we can get more pumpkins to cook with.  

The girls looking around.

Lydia cleaning the dirt off.

Ian found a keeper.

Caroline showing off her pumpkin.

...and Eliza gets them all to herself.

It was a fun afternoon where we were able to go at a slow pace.  The kids had fun (as always) and I was able to get my photography on.  Next up:  Carving and then roasting the seeds.