farm day!

last saturday was our first saturday since july with nothing to do (thank you, soccer)... i was so looking forward to having no plans, to sleeping in and just enjoying a day at home. until.... i heard about the farm. a real farm with a real pumpkin patch. our farm-find from last year was closed this year, and i refused to return to the parking lot-style pumpkin patches in our area. i just couldn't do it. my dear sister-in-law, kristie, thought a drive to the farm sounded nice too... so before we knew it, we had ourselves a little road trip planned! we didn't even ask our husbands to go. we gave them the day off, and we were up bright and early for a nice long drive. after just a little bit of chattin' and laughing in the car, we found ourselves driving on this...


a road in the actual country. no stoplights. no parking lots. nothing but hay bales, country houses, and an occasional red barn. we were getting close to the farm! i think the moms were as excited as the kids!

as soon as we arrived, we hopped on a tractor-pulled wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch!


caroline was loving the ride...


i felt like i should have been whistling and whittling something as we rode down the dusty trail, but instead, i was keeping this crazy girl from flying out of the wagon. she did not enjoy the constraints of my legs!


this was our first view of the pumpkin patch! no parking lots anywhere!


we hopped out of the wagon and first decided to head over to the sunflower field that was next to the pumpkin patch. why the sunflowers before the pumpkin patch that i'd so longed for? this is why.


amelia was pretty unsure of the bumpy farm ground when we got out of the wagon. she acted like she'd never been outside. here, she's showing me the dirt she got on her hand when she lost her balance. oh no! dirt!


i took advantage of amelia standing still for a few minutes (a bonafide farm miracle) and snapped away at all of the beautiful sunflowers. aren't they just gorgeous?


caroline said they smelled like mushrooms. completely random since she doesn't eat mushrooms.


my kids are totally humoring me here. they did not want to take this picture.


amelia finally decided to join us, and then it was a game of hide-n-seek. can you find her? did i mention it was a gorgeous day?


there she is!


again, my kids totally humoring me.


so at this point, we are ready to head over to the pumpkin patch when we see everyone else from our wagon loading up. they were ready to go back! what!?? we haven't even stepped into the pumpkin patch yet! i guess we spent a little more time than they did in the sunflower field. shoot! and i couldn't exactly hurry with amelia, my camera around my neck, and a sunflower that was taller than my son! so i kind of went into spazzy mode. i really wish i could've ignored the wagon full of people waiting for us. they were being patient. the driver was not rushing us. but i knew we needed to hurry. kristie thankfully helped corral amelia long enough for us to get this picture. we came to the first little group of pumpkins and went for it. not exactly the real-pumpkin-patch picture i'd dreamed of, but hey, you take what you can get before your 1 year old checks out to pick out a pumpkin.


so amelia was gone, and i asked ethan and caroline to get a few more pictures. ha! this is what i got. absolutely the worst picture of the day!!!!! i think they were trying to be cooperative, but it just wasn't happening. in their defense, it was super sunny out there. and they just wanted to explore and pick out a pumpkin.


of course, i did not give up. i snapped some individual pumpkin shots of them...




aaand back to the wagon we went. next year, we will explore this pumpkin patch to the fullest! mark my words, you do not want to be on our wagon! :) you will be waiting for us!!

we rode back to the farm and visited the animals. now my kids like animals and all, but karina? she is an animal lover through and through. she loved touching these rabbits.


ethan chose to observe this cow from a distance. :)


they all loved this donkey. they were a little too close to his big teeth for my comfort, but i'm happy to report that we brought home all their fingers. attached.


we found this handwashing station about 30 minutes after we'd finished up with the animals. woops. better late than never, right!?


i love the girls in this picture! so messy and "farm-y". and i cracked up that kristie got in my picture... i bet i was in hers, too! this totally documents our paparazzi motherhood!


i should've bathed amelia in that sink!


ethan and caroline's favorite farm activity was by far the rubber duck races.


they all needed a little help getting that pump going, but they had fun just the same.


it was a cute, cute set-up.


then we found the fake cow to milk. mmmhmmm. water jugs were hooked up behind a wooden cow, and oh, did the girls love milking these cows. caroline did a little dance while she twisted and turned. poor bessie. it was painful to watch.


the girls went back over and over to milk the cows. they couldn't get enough of it. this picture makes me laugh... ethan must be saying, "look girls! something other than wooden milking cows!" sorry, bud. i don't think they were listening.


this "little farmers" area was really cute. i think there were supposed to be eggs under these chickens, and they had trees that once had fake apples on them. but by the time we got there, all the plastic produce was nowhere to be found. caroline still loved the chickens that almost matched her dress!


with all the milking done, the girls peeked into the smokehouse to make sure wilbur was not in there. whew. it was empty. but we did smell bacon frying... (juuuust kidding, fern.)


speaking of food...we enjoyed a picnic lunch right next to the road where the wagons and train drove by. no one really wanted to look straight into the sun for this picture.


the kids were quite the welcoming committee for all the folks coming back in from the fields. and they could. not. wait to ride this train.


after lunch, the kids went back to... yep, milk the cows... so kristie and i took advantage of a kid-free moment (with amelia strapped in her stroller!) and had a picture taken of us. we are usually the ones with our big honkin' cameras plastered to our faces, so this is a rare picture. the wind was going a little nuts, but i still love this one of us. i am so blessed to call kristie my sister in Christ, my sister by marriage, and my dear, dear friend. and i will stop there before i get teary-eyed. :)


kristie took the big kids on the train ride, and wow, did they have fun! when the train came around the bend, i saw three little monkeys bouncing all over that cage! they are so silly.


the farm also had some fresh produce for sale. if you're asking "who takes a picture of a produce stand?!", then you obviously do not know me or kristie very well. :)


the cousins were very interested in the various kinds of pumpkins at the farm.





ethan and caroline were shocked to see gourds that looked like snakes!


as we were leaving, we couldn't help but visit this huge hay person! at first, we were calling it a "hay man", but it really looks more like a lady with the bun on top of her head. (or maybe it's supposed to be a hat??) ethan LOVED running underneath it and yelling "boo!" to anyone near it.


so we spent a good 4 hours there, and it was a wonderful day. my kids were cooperative and just a joy to be around, which made it so much easier for me since brian was not there. i loved sharing these memories with ethan and caroline, and i can't wait to go back next year when amelia may remember it. if dirtiness=a good time on the farm, then the condition of my feet in this picture will tell you that we had a ball at the farm!


i look forward to truckin' back to aplin farms with my little pumpkins next year! who's comin' with us?!


(i have more pictures of our day here if 45 just wasn't enough for you!)