Pendletons Pumpkin Patch

I really like the idea of going to a pumpkin patch. I want the kids to be able to pick out a pumpkin and if possible, see where it was growing. It's the slowness of it that attracts me. I just want to mosey around and look for one that speaks to me. 

I don't want to pay 27.50 for a pumpkin. I really don't. And I don't want to feel like I cruddy mother for taking my kids out to fancy pants pumpkin patch and then leaving empty handed because the price of admission+cider+a smallish pumpkin+a hayride+"momma, I gotta ride the moo-moo train!" = a week's worth of groceries and a stress ulcer, to boot. 

So, after eliminating all the commercial (boo! hiss!) patches and the ones that gave me a Walmart vibe, we settled on Pendleton's.  It's a working farm. They raise all sorts of veggies all year and sell them to the locals and Mari Guenther. It's the kind of place I fantasize about owning someday. 

And it was free. No cost for admission or any of the activities. Just ride out and pick a pumpkin. 

That was easy.

I did request that they look for some on the smallish size. We'd still need to pay for them and eight pumpkins can really add up.

It went pretty well and we were soon headed back out of the fields.

Everly was mostly exited about the bank sucker I found in my purse.

We reached the front and weighed all the pumpkins. Then we set them aside with our name and wandered over to the activity area. It was deserted...which is my favorite kind of crowd.....

When I stand in line for things that grow in nature, I feel like a total sucker.

Ethan found a corn cob sling shot and tried his hand at it. No lines. No fancy booth...just a bucket of corn cobs.

There was a picket fence maze that you could solve if you made it out using only right hand turns.

Mathew was feeling confident.

I think he got distracted with a game of pumpkin ball.

Eventually we moved on to other things, but Ethan stuck with it and eventually found his way out. I made him walk me through the turns, just to prove he really did it.

And he did!

We spent some time at the water pump station...

And then we found the best thing... a huge tub of dry corn kernels.

We must have spent an hour in there.

We did corn angels. Face down corn angels.

We buried each other.

And soaked up the autumn sun. It was definitely our favorite.

Mathew accidentally brought back more than memories.

We will definitely make Pendletons our #1 place for pumpkins and fall fun. It's just our style.