The pumpkin patch racket

Like the rest of America I aim to take the kiddos to a pumpkin patch every fall.  There's just something nostalgic (even though I don't recall visiting pumpkin patches growing up) and so autumn-y about pumpkin places.

After researching various nearby pumpkin spots, I realized what a money-making racket the pumpkin-experience has become.  Every place I checked offered a variety of super-fun fall themed activities but all for a price.  Hay rides?  $3 a person.  Corn maze?  $5 a pop.  Climbing on straw bales, scavenger hunt and leaf-raking?  $5 each for an activity wristband (including accompanying adults).  And of course that doesn't even include the cost of the pumpkin itself.  Ay-ay-ay!

So, instead I found a happy cheaper medium for the pumpkin experience.  I knew the kids would really enjoy a tractor-pulled hay wagon ride -- especially my machine-loving boy -- so we spent the $9 to do that.  The leaves and rakes were available for raking so we did that for free.  There were wagons sitting around for toting pumpkins which functioned as toys for the boys.  Add to that a few cups of apple cider, noshing on cheap cookies and wandering around the pumpkins (couldn't bear to buy any as I know my local drugstore sells them much cheaper) and we had ourselves a lovely morning!

I know I'm an uber-cheapskate but I really am glad folks were dishing out so much moola for the pumpkin pandemonium today.  Way to support a local farm, people!

Have you visited a pumpkin patch yet this season?  If so, I'm curious . . . how much did you pay for your pumpkin?

All tuckered out from the pumpkin morning.

My cutesy Chloe posing nicely for the camera.  Why don't the boys follow her lead?!?

Rakin'

A rock is truly as much fun as a ball.  Just duck when Solomon comes your way.

Who knew raking someone else's leaves could be so enjoyable?

Waiting patiently for the hayride.

Sizing up the tractor wheel.

Hayride!

This boy LOVED all aspects of the hayride!

Wagon pulling and pushing

Pumpkins in a bathtub?  What?

The best shot of the three rascals I could get.

Checking out the pumpkin selection.

Balancing on the bridge over a sea of pumpkins.

Apples

Seems like even after a busy week, I'm also itching to take the kids and do something special on Saturdays.

Since fall weather hit us with a bang this week and because last week's book in Chloe's five in a row curriculum was How to make an apple pie and see the world (GREAT book by the way) an apple orchard was today's obvious destination.

Matt had a meeting this morning so we dropped him off and headed to a nearby orchard. Unfortunately, it wasn't a pick-your-own apple joint but we still had a lovely time. LOTS of great apples at great prices. Plus a corn maze, pumpkins, a bakery, shop with local homemade items, and plenty of apple trees and gardens to walk through.

We came away with a peck of gala apples for $8. That's approximately 11 pounds of apples so I thought it was a fabulous deal. I currently have about 1/3 of the peck cooking for a big ole pot of applesauce. Yum!

By the way, I'm no good at corn mazes. We had to break our way through the dry corn stalks to find our way out.

Have you done any apple picking this season? What's your favorite way to prepare apples in the fall?

I have a smashingly good applesauce recipe that I never tire of. Though I do tire of peeling and coring the apples.

Happy apple season to you!

Grandma's here!

My mom is in town visiting - YAY! We're busy enjoying grandma time and soaking up her presence during the holiday weekend.

Here are some recent fall photos of the kids to keep you happy during my blogging absence. :)

We spent an afternoon doing fall-y leaf things. And Chloe has informed me that raking leaves is hard work. Tell me about it. We raked and raked and raked and then she only did one jump into the pile. And Clive attempted eating the crunchy moldy leaves several times (only successful once though!). I'm learning quickly that baby boys are tough little creatures.

How'd your leaf-raking go this year?

Blogging Catch-22

We have had an incredibly busy week. I've had LOADS to blog about but absolutely no time! I can't count how many times I've begun a post and been called away only to leave my post unfinished and unposted.

I call it the blogging catch-22. Too much to blog about and too little time.

I am very much looking forward to a less-busy fall routine! This fall we'll have Bible study and library story-time weekly and a preschool co-op every other week. In between those commitments I plan on doing "Mommy school" with Chloe to teach her phonics. (I've finally decided on a curriculum: Phonics Pathways which I've checked out from the library. And I hope to continually renew it. I will be the bane of the Hudson library.)

What does your fall schedule look like? Can you believe it's fall already?!?

Pumpkin love

I know at least one of you out there is a pumpkin-loving fanatic just like I am. Should we start a club? :) There's something soothing and homey about cooking pumpkins that resonates with me come fall. And it helps that are bazillions of yummy baking recipes to pull out in pumpkin season. The aromas of freshly baked pumpkin bread just can not be duplicated by a fall yankee candle. And did I mention that pumpkin is rich in vitamin A and fiber?

Thus far I've roasted 3 pumpkins and have a good sized container of pumpkin mash in my freezer. I picked up 2 more little guys cheap to roast up in the coming weeks. Good thing too, we're going through our pumpkin mash fast! In the last few weeks I made two pumpkin bread loaves, a large batch of pumpkin pancakes, and pumpkin oatmeal.

A fun bonus about cooking up pumpkins is that I can get Chloe involved. We both don our aprons and she stands on a chair to help me scrape out the pumpkin guts. Pumpkin roasting is so incredibly easy that the preparation is short enough to keep even my busy toddler's attention for a few minutes time. Plus Chloe's in that loves-to-help-mommy-with-everything phase (let's hope this lasts into adulthood) so she gets overly excited about anything she's allowed to assist with. I caught her stealing my pumpkins so she could pretend to cook and eat them - what a character.

Anyways, that brings me to my question for you. What are your favorite pumpkin recipes? Email them to me at aliciamhorn@gmail.com and I'll post them all here by next week.

If you're curious about pumpkin roasting but never tried it, here's an illustrated how-to link to get you started. It's so incredibly easy you'll wonder why most Americans don't roast pumpkins instead of tossing them come November 1. (Aarrrgh - that is a huge pet peeve of mine! Can you imagine how many delicious pumpkins get thrown away because people only use them as decor instead of food?!? We are a decadent society. Think I'll start a pumpkin-snatching group to rescue pumpkins from trash cans. Anyone with me?)

Oodles of fall activities

Last night we carved up our first family pumpkin: Bubba. I got Bubba for a ridiculous $2 because his stem was broken. I can't wait to go back and get more $2 beauties for cookin' and eatin'. Yum!

Matt did all the carving and guts-removal which was just fine by me. Chloe probably would have enjoyed scooping out the gooey innards for all of 30 seconds. Matt was quick and efficient. While he did the messy work, Chloe and I drew sample Bubba faces on paper. The best part was when we put the candle in the newly carved Bubba and set him on the porch. Chloe wanted to sit right next to him and kept looking inside to see the candle light.

Today we did some family shopping (I'm quickly growing out of my maternity size small/medium pants) and then stopped at a small harvest festival in a nearby city. Held at an historical park, the festival had a few kiddie activities, a craft barn, an old car display, and a few historical recreations (iron working and apple butter cooking). Chloe got to paint a pumpkin and she snagged a free firewoman hat. Score!

What fall activities have you been up to thus far?