2012 Pumpkin Patch And Fall Festival

We made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch this past Sunday. One of the local churches has THE BEST pumpkin patch set up with tons of pumpkins and bright fall colors. They also put on a super fun festival for the kids with pony rides, train rides, bounce houses, games and activities. We used to make two separate trips - one for pictures and one for the festival - but for the past two years, we have been combining the two for an afternoon of pumpkin patch fun!

Melissa and her family drove up for the day, and after we had lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, we headed out to the pumpkin patch. Bryce didn't waste any time grabbing up his first little pumpkin.

I bought the girls these adorable Candy Corn dresses from my friend Amanda at Alligator Lane, along with a matching tie for Bryce, so I set out to get a picture of the three of them together right away. Ha! I thought taking pictures of two kids together was difficult enough, but adding a baby to the mix made it nearly impossible.

You can click on the images for the full-size, clearer image. But no stealing!

I really didn't have an easier time getting a picture of just Rylie and Bryce together, but I managed to get a couple of cute ones...

...and then one of the pretty girls together.

Rylie is one of the most photogenic kids ever, and rarely takes a bad picture. I loved the colors in her dress with the pumpkins around her.

The kids had fun sticking their faces in the Indian and pilgrim cut outs.

Look at this cute little Indian!

Bryce just loved all of the "baby pumpkins"!

More pics of the adorable Candy Corn Dress. I loved how they came out!

Mia and her beautiful blue eyes!

Bryce wanted to see how tall he was, but then got mad when I told him he had to wait his turn. Rylie was all smiles, though. Man these kids grow so fast!

When Amanda made the dresses, she surprised me with the adorable candy corn bows you see in the pictures above. Well I had also ordered "Candy Corn Cutie" headbands from my friend Nery of Nery's Bowtique, so we had a quick hair change in the middle of our photo session. Rylie loves headbands these days, so she was happy to model it for me.

Then she paused to take time to smell the (fake) flowers...

The air was starting to get a little chilly, and it was almost time for the festival to start, so we had a quick wardrobe change in the car and headed right back in to the pumpkin patch. Just at this time, my friend Tiffany arrived with her little cuties. Rylie and Payten ended up having the same shirts on, which was not planned (in fact, it was supposed to have been avoided), but they thought it was cool.

Here we go again trying to get three kids to all look at the camera at the same time...

...and here is our attempt at a family photo. I definitely don't like it as much as last year's, but it will make a nice Facebook cover photo nonetheless.

I caught Mia playing with one of the tiny pumpkins. She seemed really into it, too. Shortly after this photo, she fell asleep so they decided to head home.

Brian and the kids had fun goofing off with the scarecrows. Hey, at least they were all smiling!

The festival got underway at 3:00, and the kids were first in line for the bounce house. They bounced for their two minutes, and then we headed over and got in line for the train.

We then went over and got in the ridiculously long line for the pony rides, and that is when Jenn and Rylie's best friend Peyton arrived.

I didn't know if Bryce would get on the horses or not, but after we told him that Brian could walk next to him, he was excited to saddle up and go for a ride. He had a great time, and of course wanted to go again as soon as his ride was over.

Of course Rylie didn't even hesitate to take a ride when it was her turn.

After the pony rides, we headed inside for some fun. While the girls got in line to have their faces painted, Bryce went straight over to the cookie decorating station. Apparently he went a little nuts with the sprinkles.

There were older kids doing the face painting, so the girls didn't get elaborate designs like they are used to. Still, they had fun with scarecrows and ghosts.

Bryce wanted another cookie, so I headed back to the cookie station with him. He picked out orange frosting and spread it on the cookie, and this time he was very careful to make sure his sprinkles stayed on his cookie.

While Bryce enjoyed his cookie, unfortunately, they were off limits to Rylie because of her nut allergy. She didn't mind, though, when she won a game and got a Blow Pop.

We also ran into one of Bryce's best buds at the festival. He was so excited to see Gavin there! After the kids got their sugar rushes, we headed back outside for more bouncing, and Gavin and Bryce had a great time playing together.

On our way out I snapped a couple pictures of Jenn and Peyton together.

We were getting ready to leave when Rylie insisted that we buy a pumpkin to take home and carve. We had never done this before (we usually just make a donation), but we thought it would be fun for the kids so we obliged. It has been so hot here up until this past weekend, so the pumpkins weren't in the best condition. We finally found one that looked pretty good and everyone agreed that was the one.

While Brian was paying for the pumpkin, the kids were goofing off on the wagons. I turned my head for a minute and when I looked back, Bryce was face down on the ground. After I picked him up, I realized that he had taken a nose dive off of the flat wagon right onto the metal handle. Poor kid. He only cried for like a minute, though, and actually kept apologizing because he knew he shouldn't have been playing on the wagons. He's so tough, but this had to hurt!

After we got some ice and carried our huge pumpkin out to the truck, we headed home for some carving fun. As soon as Brian cut the top of the pumpkin off, Rylie jumped right in to scoop it out.

She had no problems sticking her whole arm down in the pumpkin. She's a nut!

The kid was fascinated with the pumpkin goo and wouldn't stop playing with it. She was pretending to make pumpkin soup, and then transferred all of the seeds to another bowl so Brian could cook them.

Rylie told Brian what type of face to carve, and the kids were so excited to see their finished jack-o-lantern. I was pretty excited too. Would you believe this was my first jack-o-lantern ever? (At least that I can remember.)

And here he is...all lit up!

We had such a fun day! I love our pumpkin patch tradition, and I plan on keeping it up. If you're in the mood for some more pumpkin patch fun, check out these posts from years past:

2010 Pumpkin Patch 1
2010 Pumpkin Patch 2
2010 Fall Festival
2010 Pumpkin Patch Then & Now
2011 Pumpkin Patch & Fall Festival
2011 Pumpkin Patch Then & Now

Did you visit a pumpkin patch this year?