Pumpkin Patch 2019

On Sunday, the Olson Four made our annual trip to Fairbank Animal Farm/Pumpkin Patch. As I've said in past posts, Eric and I started going there before we had the kids ... possibly before we got married. It has become part of our fall to-do list and one we all look forward to each year.

It is with great enthusiasm that I can report we didn't get rained on. Talk about a pumpkin miracle!!  It rained on our way there and on our drive home. Not a DROP during our time there. We were geared up - boots, rain coats, hats! We definitely needed the boots because of the mud, but not because of any rain.       

Eric and Annika on their way to the farm
(Can I just say how much I love that she still holds our hands?!!)

We peeked at the various animals (a bit quickly, knowing the weather was not going to be kind to those who dallied and because the farm was rather packed. (Our "there won't be many people there because of the weather" theory turned out to be completely wrong!) We saw a mama pig with her brood and another mama pig who was ready to have babies at any time. (That poor girl looked miserable ... even while napping!) We saw the ducks, geese, peacocks, and pony before darting into the barn. (Back in the old days, we were allowed into the stalls, but insurance regulations put an end to that a number of years ago.) We contented ourselves with petting the calf through the gate... fortunately, it was close enough for everyone to give it a little love and enjoy how soft its nose was. We also got to pet (with one finger!) some ducklings and chicks. The bunnies were constantly busy, so we just waved as we hopped along. (Ha! See what I did there??)  We also took a few minutes to watch the newly-hatched chicks in the incubators.

MOO!

The calf was particularly interested in nibbling on Annika during the visit!

Our cute chickies with the chickies

Fluffy ducklings

Knowing our time between rain showers was probably rather short, we high-tailed it to the pumpkin patches to pick out THE perfect pumpkins to take home. Because of the recent rain. many of the pumpkins were rather squishy, so the hunt evolved from a "is it a good size and shape?" to "is it a good size and shape ... and is it not decaying?". We do have standards, ya know!

On our way out, Eric paid for the pumpkins while the kids and I took advantage of the photo op boards around the property. (Yes, the kids are less enthusiastic about this part of the outing than they were when they were younger, but they are still good about humoring their dear old mom!)

On our way home, we stopped at MOD Pizza for a warm-up sort of lunch to celebrate our great pumpkin adventure, the lack of rain while we were out and about, and, oh, my 46th birthday. :)

2017 Family Pumpkin Patch Excursion

Today, we made our annual excursion to Fairbank Animal Farm to pick our our pumpkins for Halloween.  This year was extra special because the Hall family joined us.

Considering the day before, we were about to start researching plans for building an ark, we were beyond overjoyed to have nothing but sunny weather today! I'm talking we needed sunglasses it was so nice! The rain from the previous days required us to don our rain boots to avoid getting overly muddy, but oh well!!

We started off visiting the goats (like we'd start anywhere else ... duh!) and moved on to the various birds (ducks, geese, peacocks, chickens) and fed them the little cups of feed that we got when we paid for our admission. While it is fun to see the birds, it is also a strong reminder that I'm not much of a captive bird gal ... they suckers are loud and smell like ... well, wet birds.). We made our way to the piglets (about a month old) and were (once again) awed by the sheer size of their mamas. Those are some large tired ladies ... then again, I would be, too, if I'd given birth to 12 children a few weeks before!)

We wound our way through the petting barn and got to pet the baby chicks, ducklings, and bunny. While they were cute, the baby sheep and month-old twin goats were what captured my heart. Beyond cute!! We also saw a couple of bearded dragons and a legless lizard (which ... only after my snarky statement "yeah... most people just call 'em snakes" I learned is quite different from a snake due to its eyelids, external ears, and uniform scale pattern.) Annika and Benji even watched a chick break out of its egg and join the world. How exciting is that???

Anyone want to guess who won this staring contest??

Eric proved to be an expert goat scratcher ... pretty sure she would have
followed him home if the fences hadn't gotten in the way

Annika giving the chicks a little love

Annabelle, Conor, and a goat
(I love how stumpy the goat's legs are!!)

Annika and Benji watching the chicks emerge from their eggs in the incubator

After we gave the animals their much-deserved attention, it was off to the pumpkin patch to pick out our perfect pumpkins! (Or in Annabelle's case, three perfect pumpkins!) Picking out THE pumpkin is such a different experience for adults than it is for kids. I'm pretty sure the kids inspected almost every pumpkin available before choosing which one to take home. Well.... Benji actually picked out his huge green pumpkin pretty early on, but then had to check out all of the other options before finalizing his green pumpkin decision. Annika and Conor both tromped through multiple pumpkin patches and considered many pumpkins before (finally) making their decisions. Annabelle went with three little pumpkins instead of one big pumpkin approach. We adults, on the other hand, basically walking into the patch, found some that fit our criterial (not rotting, not eaten by a squirrel, fairly uniformly shaped) and called it good within a couple of minutes. Yeah, we're just boring that way

Eric and Annika with her pick of the patch

   

Conor considering a massive green pumpkin

Pretty sure this thing weighs more than she does!

Conor and Eric returning from the patch with Conor's gem

The Halls

The Olson Four

Annika and Eric wheeling the pumpkins to the front of the farm 

While the dads paid for the pumpkins, the kiddos opted to run around the little play/photo area and burn off a little energy. The kids were in and out of the teepee, up and down on the wagon, and all too eager to put their faces in the various painted scenes so we could take their photos.

Conor being silly in his stump hidy hole

Annika and Annabelle just kidding around
(haha! Get it???)

Our cute babies

Annual Pumpkin Patch Pilgrimage, Circa 2015

When you live in Western WA, like we do, planning outdoor events and excursions often comes with the tag "weather permitting." When the weather window opens, we've learned to run at it full steam ahead because you never know when Mother Nature is going to slam it down on you.

Such was the case with our annual trip to Fairbank Farm for our family's Halloween pumpkins. As Conor and I were driving home from church, I realized my windshield was staying dry... the weather window was open!! The gray clouds above meant Mother Nature's hand was on that window, but we are brave (foolish?) folks and decided to risk it. As soon as we got home, I rallied the troops and soon we were in the car headed to the pumpkin patch.

We got to the pumpkin patch about an hour after it opened, which left us parking a couple of blocks away instead of in the farm's parking lot. (Obviously many others decided to pop in while the weather window was open like we did!) Soon, we were feeding the farm's various species of birds (ducks, geese, peacocks, chickens ... all of which smelled like wet bird), watching the pigs, oohing and ahhing over the baby ducks and newly-hatched (and hatching) chicks (note: better smelling than the wet adult birds out in the rain!), and wandering through the mini hay maze.

Because we're regulars at the farm, we were able to make pretty good time as we wove our way through the various sections of the farm. I think I'm the only one who even stopped to look at the pony this go-around! Plus, a number of years ago, the farm changed insurance companies and the new company wouldn't allow people into the pens with the calf and juvenile sheep, so there are a fewer spots to encourage us to lollygag in the barn.

One of our kids with one of the farm's kids

Conor and his new goat buddy

The gray goat kept head-butting the brown one... not hard, just often

Conor decided to referee the goats and restore peace in the goat pen

Once the kids (and their parents) got their fill of taking in the sights and sounds of the barn animals, we grabbed a wheelbarrow and made our way to the pumpkin patch. From our years of experience, we know to bypass the first patch and head to the back one ... novices stop at the first patch, which is more picked over. We seasoned veterans know to hike the extra 40-50 feet and enjoy the bounty of the slightly-less-visited back patch.

It's pumpkin season!

Each family member can pick out one pumpkin. Conor found many of "THE" one for him. His approach was to find a pumpkin that spoke to him (metaphorically, of course!) until another one had a louder voice. Then, the original pumpkin was put down and the next one was picked up. (This happened over and over until he felt comfortable with his final choice ... and it was basically time to leave.)

Conor with one of his chosen pumpkins

And with one of the many others that he deemed adoptable

Annika, on the other hand, was much more discerning in her pumpkin picking. She went in with one goal: to find the biggest pumpkin. No mediocre pumpkin was going to catch our girl's eye. (We can only hope she's this discerning when it comes to choosing people to date in the future!) As we tried to help her along (Mother Nature's hand was getting ever closer to the window, ya know!), all we did was annoy her by pointing out sub-par pumpkins. (Gosh, we are jerks!) Fortunately, she eventually did spot a pumpkin that she deemed worthy and gave us the green light to load it into the wheelbarrow with the rest of our orange loot.

Annika: Pumpkin Huntress

THE ONE

 Most years, I get a picture of the kids sitting in the wheelbarrow with our pumpkins. Only when it was too late did I realized we grabbed one of the smaller wheelbarrows and the kids wouldn't fit in... whoops! I did manage, however, to get one of my other go-to shots: the one of Eric and the kids wheeling our pumpkins away from the patch.

While Eric paid for the pumpkins, the kids played around in the farm's photo op area and put their faces through the holes painted in various scenes so I could take their pictures. They still think this is silly fun and are willing to participate. One day, they'll be too big (or cool) to do this, so I'm taking advantage of it while I can!

Our kids 

The cutest scarecrow and pumpkin on Earth!

After the pumpkins were paid for and loaded in the car, we headed home celebrating our pumpkin finds and outwitting Mother Nature ... we stayed dry the entire time. Yippee!!

Annual Pumpkin Patch Adventure

Each year (even before the kids were born), we make the trek to a local-ish pumpkin farm in Edmonds. This year, Eric and I greatly took the weather forecast into account when picking the day (and time) to go, and are so grateful that we did. It didn't rain until we were loaded into the car, with our farm animal fix taken care of and our pumpkins rolling around in the back of the car.

Fairbank Farm is a wonderful family-run farm that is only open to the public during October and we love going there. It has escaped the commercial feel many other pumpkin patches seems to have adopted, which I highly appreciate. It isn't  a "now that you've paid your entry fee, now pay to ride our train, pay to give feed to our animals, pay to have a picture taken here" place. It is a "pay your $4, here's a cup of food for the birds, have a lovely time" farm.

We got to see baby pigs (not quite as young as the ones we saw last year, but that's ok; they were still mighty cute!), a pony, pygmy goats, geese, ducks, peacocks, and turkeys. Inside the barn, the kids got to pet ducklings, baby bunnies, and chicks. We also observed a snoozing calf and were memorized by the hatching chicks in the  incubator.

After wandering around the animal area and daydreaming about having farm animals of our own (ok, that is more of my daydream than Eric's, but in my daydreams he dreams about having some of them, too! Oh, and I don't daydream about having the farm birds... only the mammals), we found a wheelbarrow and made our way to the pumpkin patches. After careful consideration and evaluation, each of us found a perfect pumpkin to take home. Conor found "THE" pumpkin about five or six times, but was able to (eventually) find "THE THE" pumpkin for him. Meanwhile, Eric and Annika seemed to hone in on their ideal squash quite easily.

While Eric paid for the pumpkins, the kids and I spent some time in the farm's play area. There's a full-size tee-pee, as well as a old-fashioned wagon, cutouts for photo ops, and a few bales of hay to climb. A few raindrops started to fall, which was our signal to exit stage left, and I'm so glad we did. Getting home without being sopping wet and covered in mud is a wonderful bonus.

As we walked back to the car, we saw the farmer who had just used his tractor to pull a car out of the mud. I stopped to tell him how much we enjoy visiting the farm each year and mentioned that Eric and I started visiting long before we had kids. The farmer seemed genuinely touched by this and just as I finished talking, he scooped up Conor and plopped him in the tractor's driver's seat. That boy was in hog heaven! He gripped the steering wheel with gusto and made happy tractor driving noises like never before. Of course, as soon as Annika saw him, she asked why she didn't get to sit up there. (Ahh... sibling rivalry!). We explained that there is only one seat and she'd get her chance. (Whew, crisis averted.) After her turn in the tractor's seat, we thanked the farmer again and made our way home. Within just a couple of minutes, the sky opened up and began dumping rain. Talk about timing! :)

Oink

Annika doing her pig impersonation

I've decided her name is "Big Mama"

Strike a pose!

Hatchlings

Fluffy chicks

Headin to the pumpkin patch

Picking out pumpkins

Too small for carving, but I bet they'd make lovely pies!

The hunt continues

Mama and Conor... he didn't actually want
this pumpkin, but we needed a photo prop :)

Pretty sure that at this point, he was much more
excited about his dandelion pumpkins

Annika with our plethora of pumpkins

Ready to roll

My sweetie, two babies, our four pumpkins ... and a dandelion for good measure

In the wagon

Annika the scarecrow and Conor the pumpkin

Conor "driving" the tractor

Farmer Annika

I plan on doing a blog post about our pumpkin carving soon.
Until then, here's a picture of our final results :)