Elisablog: Pumpkin Patch

There are lots of things I took for granted being born and raised in Illinois--long rainy days. Grass that grows without daily watering that costs lots of money. Squirrels.

But something that it didn't even occur to me that I would have to search and scrounge to find in Colorado were apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Apparently, due to its desert like earth, apple trees and pumpkins don't grow as readily here as they do in Illinois. We found this out last year when we googled apple orchards near us and found the closest one was 1.5 hours away and only offered 4 types of apples--red and golden delicious, gala and granny smith. I can buy those at the store, thanks.

This year, however, I was determined that we do something "fall-y". Something that had been a tradition in the fall when we lived in Illinois. When my friend Rachel said she found a pumpkin patch with a corn maze, I said yes! Sign me up!

When she said it was 1.5 hours away, I told Evan that it was not a choice, we had to go. Then he grumbled and pouted and agreed to come along. He couldn't say no to my reasoning of, "But we have to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

This is what Julia chose to wear. She was channeling the 1980s.

As soon as I stepped out of the car I was hit with a smell so lovely, so intoxicating that I breathed in as deep as I could. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out what it was--corn. I was smelling corn. Fresh, sweet and so much like home. I was homesick. I grew up with that smell and didn't realize how much I miss it.

We started with the corn maze. Julia kind of hated it. She kept tripping over the rows of corn and then would whine for someone to hold her. She's not really an adventurer, our Julia.

Elisabeth, however was eager to explore the maze.

When Julia could handle the corn maze no longer, Evan and I took her to play in the pumpkin patch while Rachel, Joe and the older kids kept going through the maze.

The corn bin was very fun for Juju.

It's odd to see mountains behind the corn field. Well, at least for an Illinoisan.

Julia kept seeing other kids being buried in corn and asked Evan to do it to her. But, when he started pouring corn all over her, she seemed to be less than thrilled about it. I don't think she realized it would be kind of a messy process.

And then there's Elisabeth, who cares nothing about messes.

Corn angels.

We each got to pick a pumpkin to take home. Elisabeth found hers immediately.

Peter was next to find his. (Goodness, I love that kid)

Weirdo.

Julia was pulled around in the wagon by a Jedi master.

This is her asking me to help her after she'd fallen. This is me taking her picture instead.

We had a lot of fun. We ended up staying over 2 hours and the bigger kids went back into the maze again. Julia was fascinated by all of the pumpkins, which is exactly why I wanted to go this year. She's at that fun age where this is all new to her and I wanted to be able to share the experience of a fall tradition, even if we had to drive 1.5 hours just to get there.