A Genuine Pumpkin Patch Experience

Last weekend, we made a special trip to the Underwood Family Farms, located about an hour away in Moorpark, CA. Maddie had never been to a pumpkin patch before and I was adamant on her getting the true experience this year. I refused to visit a parking lot filled with pumpkins, less than 2 minutes from our house and call that "a pumpkin patch experience," contrary to what many local friends and neighbors seem to think is sufficient enough down here. I don't think so! Where we come from (and this is both OR and WA), pumpkin patches were never scarce or very far away. There might be some hay rides, a corn maze, lots of photo opportunities, a train, face painting, and of course, a big field of perfect pumpkins to pick. You would go with coats and rubber boots, and possibly even get something warm to drink while you were partaking in the traditions of pumpkin picking.

Let me just tell you, this was not the experience we had last weekend. Although we were donned in jeans, we were in short-sleeve shirts and flip-flops (well, I was), with sunglasses adorned on our faces, as we were greeted with temperatures in the 80s...at the pumpkin patch. Absolutely bizarre!

We traveled out to the patch with a family from our small group, whose son, Ethan, is 5 months younger than Maddie. It was his first time as well, and the two kiddos didn't quite know how to take it all in! This place was huge, and that feels like an understatement. It was a full on Harvest Festival, complete with hay rides, corn maze, trains, bounce houses, food vendors, live entertainment, face painting, pony rides, combine slide, farmers' market, 5-6 pumpkin patches, petting zoo and pig racing. We spent nearly 4 hours there, managing to do everything we wanted to, but not coming close to seeing it all!

As with any trip to a pumpkin patch, the camera remains out and pictures are snapped right and left. There are a lot of pictures in this post, but just be thankful I didn't post all 92 that I took!! :)

"The Pumpkin House," as seen during the only 15 minutes of "overcast" to our morning.

Maddie loved the pumpkin house. She still talks about it to this day, and throughout the morning, returned to it as many times as she could.

Pretty sure she's super cute.

You know how much Maddie loves trains, upon reading my earlier post last week, so you can imagine her enthusiasm at being able to ride a real train. She's been on a train several times at Disneyland, but both Brant and I are sitting on either side of her. You could just feel the happiness bubbling over when she sat down in her seat all by herself. :)

Here they come! This was taken while the ride was in motion, and both Maddie and Ethan were overjoyed and giddy. After the train ride, we snagged a wagon which both kids enjoyed being pulled around in, and headed over to the pig races. Yes, pig races. Brant was really excited to watch the pig racing fun. Maddie was pretty neutral, I think more because she didn't understand what was going on. At the end of the race, she cried because she thought she was going to actually be able to go over and hang out and play with the little piggies. Let the races begin!Not a great picture, but the best I could do. You can see the pigs just to the right of the little girl holding up the blue flag. The blue team (that was us), won! Way to go, little piggy!!Another big highlight to Maddie's experience at the pumpkin patch, was getting to ride a pony - another first for her. She loved it, and also still talks about it to this day.

Such a little beauty!

Check out those pumpkins! This was only one of several patches to choose from, each one housing unique pumpkins, varying in colors, textures and sizes. Also note, no possible chance for muddy pickings here! The ground was bone dry.Finding the perfect pumpkin...well, actually, she wasn't sure why she was wandering around. She was just copying everyone else, walking around these brightly orange-colored balls, unsure what they are even for! Brant and Maddie, with our friends, Dave, Stephanie and Ethan.

Ethan and Maddie were very happy to be resting in the wagon while we attempted to get through the corn maze.

Unfortunately, our fearless leaders didn't have the best of luck guiding us through the maze...even with the help of a map. We ended up back at the beginning, and I'm not totally convinced that was planned. :)

Time for the hay ride! And yes, I was as tired as I look in this picture, but that didn't mean I wasn't having a great time!

Group shot, although it was taken too far away, upon departing for the day. What a great time!

And to prove to you how big this place was, how much we crammed into the day, and how much fun we had....And yes, that is Maddie's pumpkin tucked under her arm. She didn't let the pumpkin out of her sight for days, including feeding her pumpkin, giving it milk, singing to it, and kissing it "nigh-night." A success of a first pumpkin patch experience, if I do say so myself!