Motley's Pumpkin Patch

The girls have been begging to go on another hay ride ever since the Harvest festival. Last Sunday, after church (and giving blood), we took a family trip to Motley's Pumpkin Patch. First, we watched some pig races and rode a hay ride.

Our kids posed next to the prize-winning giant pumpkins:

We checked out animals in the petting zoo area before heading to the pumpkin patch.

The kids loved climbing the hay mountain and sliding down the slide in the play area.

The girls rode the cow train through the Christmas tree farm. Bella's cow was named Bella!

We had to try to get a family picture...

The kids played on the swings until the tornado sirens went off. I sent Michael to put the kids in the car while I paid for the pumpkin, but the line to pay was longer than expected and I had the car keys - and the wind picked up suddenly - so we changed plans and hid inside the building, crowding by the restroom until the storm calmed.

Bella said her horse was flying as she flapped the ears. She thought she was so funny!

On Thursday, Gabi returned to Motley's Pumpkin Patch for a Kindergarten class field trip.

Harvest

The weekend after Bella's class field trip to Pumpkin Hill, we went back to Wildwood Park for the Harvest festival. We had enjoyed the spring festival so much that we wanted to check out this one, too. Lolo and Lola joined us this time, but Daddy was on call again and couldn't make it.

Bella walking along a stepping-stone path in the woods

Clapping for the band

Gabi won a cakewalk!

Lola showing Kati a pumpkin

Watching the creek flow under the bridge

Big sisters posing by the lake

Kati wants to grab Lolo's glasses.

The garden train was a big hit again

Girls by the train

Even Katarina loved watching the train!

Pumpkin Hill

Bella's PreK-3 class took a field trip to Pumpkin Hill at Wildwood Park last week, and Kati and I joined them. First, we all rode on a hay ride. Bella and her classmates enjoyed jumping in the hay before the tractor started moving.

Bella's friend Kristin sat next to us on the hay ride, too.

Kati slept on the hay ride initially, but eventually all the bumping and laughter woke her up.

The wooded trail for the hay ride was decorated with scarecrows and ghosts and pumpkins for the kids to find.

The hay ride ended at Pumpkin Hill, where there was a hay maze and a hay fort for the kids to run through. The loved it!

Pumpkins were all over the hay maze and hay fort, and the kids each selected one to take home.

A short walk by the lake took us back to the pavilion where we ate snack before heading home.

AR State Fair

The Arkansas State Fair was last week, and I took the girls one day when Michael was on call. I was able to navigate the crowds with three preschoolers alone, but unfortunately I couldn't let the kids ride the carousel (the one ride they specifically asked about before we even arrived at the fair) because Bella wasn't tall enough to ride without an adult and Kati wasn't tall enough to ride at all.

One of the highlights of the fair for the girls was feeding carrots to the goats in the children's petting zoo.

Gabi's favorite part was milking the "cow" and the other hands-on activities (grinding wheat into flour, "driving" a tractor, and collecting "eggs" from the chicken coop). Gramma Jane, I thought of you and how you hated collecting eggs because the hens were mean. This exhibit had a contraption where the hens were sitting on slanted nests such that the eggs roll onto a conveyor belt and you turn the belt to collect the eggs.

We saw a Hereford whiteface, a black Angus, and a black baldie next to each other - so I got to teach the girls what I learned from Granddad about the black baldie being a Hereford-Angus cross. I think the farmer sitting with the cows was impressed that I knew all that and could identify the breeds... but then I showed my ignorance by asking what the difference between a steer and a bull was. (If you're curious: a steer is fixed, but a bull can breed.)