Sunday, October 5, 2008

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

We went on our first excursion to a pumpkin patch!

Saturday morning we packed up the diaper bag and headed about an hour and a half east of town to Willcox, AZ. There's a place called Apple Annie's that has an orchard and a pick-your-own pumpkin patch. It was a first for all of us and excitement was in the air!



Upon arriving we decided to go for the full experience and try out the Corn Maze. They had cut it into the shape of the new Arizona state quarter that came out a few weeks ago. It felt like Iowa to be surrounded by corn again! We spent about 30 minutes going back and forth in the corn rows trying to find our way out. We were having fun.



Peter started to get a little hungry towards the end though. He was probably a little tired of the bump-bump-bump of the stroller to. I tell you, if you thought going through a corn maze was tough before... it gets even tougher with a crying baby on your hip! Thankfully a "corn cop" found us and led us out so we could sit down and rest a little.




Next we got to go on a tractor-pulled hayride out into the fields. We went past squash, tomatos, bell peppers, and sunflowers until we finally reached the pumpkin patch.



They seemed to go on for miles! When faced with so many options its hard to choose a pumpkin! John grabbed a pair of cutters and we set off to browse the field. We ended up with one BIG pumpkin, then a smaller orange one and a smaller white one.


At this point the wind was really starting to pick up. And since the land is very flat alot of dust "tornados" were starting to kick up. Our hair was whipping around and I kept having to try to hide Peter's face from the flying dust as clouds started to move in.


We got back on the hayride home and paid for our pumpkins. We even grabbed some yummy sweet corn for dinner. After strapping in our pumpkins for the ride home Peter quickly fell asleep for a well deserved nap.

We all had a great time and agree we should do it again next year. What a great "first" for all of us!