A (hot) trip to the pumpkin patch

It's October so that means it's time for a trip to the pumpkin patch!  Unfortunately, the place we've been going to ever since we moved to Tennessee is closed this year so we had to find a new one to explore.  I had always seen signs for Honeysuckle Hill so we decided to give it a try.  Our good friends, the Schmidts, joined us!  

This place was huge and there was a ton to do.  My only complaint was that a LOT of the activities cost more in addition to the admission fee.  Luckily we were able to sway the boys away from the add on attractions.  

Our first stop was the barnyard area...they had pigs, chickens, bunnies, cows and goats.  Neither boy was overly interested in the animals until we got to the milking station.  They had these neat cows rigged up so that you could see what it was like to milk a cow.  Kemper thought it was neat and Hudson enjoyed watching Daddy give it a try!

Hudson trying to keep up with the big boys.

Up next, we wandered over to the corn mazes.  They had a big maze and a kiddie maze....luckily we kind of tricked the boys into the smaller, kiddie maze.  It was HOT and I don't think any of the adults were in the mood to chase them through the giant maze.  The kiddie maze had a little story throughout...you moved from book page to book page as you went through the maze.  

Next, on to the jumping pillows!  They had a big kids (Corn Popper) and a little kids (the Pumpkin Hopper).  Lynse was at the Corn Popper with the big boys while James and I took Hudson to the Pumpkin Hopper.  He seemed to enjoy it...he mostly wanted to walk up and down the sides but seemed to have a good time.  Kemper really enjoyed jumping until he lost his balance and face planted. 

We decided to go on the "hayride" next...I was not complaining one bit that there was no pokey hay for us to sit on.  

Seems odd to see a family picture at the pumpkin patch where we're all wearing short sleeves.  It was 85 and sunny...felt more like a day to be at the beach!

All of the pumpkins in the patch they take you to are the mini pie pumpkins...everyone gets to pick 1 as part of their admission.  Hudson apparently thought we were back at the apple orchard and tried to sample them.

They called this "The Rat Race" and the boys had a blast rolling up and down the track.  Luckily these were right next to the concession stand so we took a water break while the boys played.  The Fun House was right around the corner so we gave that a try, too.  Everyone seemed to enjoy the fun house even though there were a few rooms that had them a bit skittish.  

They had the most beautiful, big mums!

As I mentioned earlier, there were quite a few things that cost extra in addition to the admission fee.  The cow train was one of them, along with the pumpkin train, pumpkin blasters, zip line and gemstone mining.  As we were walking back from the hayride area, a nice lady asked us if we were planning to do any of the extra attractions.  She had 4 tokens that they weren't going to use and was wondering if we would like them.  It just so happened that the cow train was 1 token per ride and we had 4 kids to ride!  Awesome!  Thankful for the kindness of strangers!  Everyone had a blast...even mommy got to ride with Hudson (although it was a bit bumpy as we were in the last car).  

After the cow train, we checked out the duck races where the boys got to experience pumping water.  They were occupied with this for quite awhile.  

Finally, we decided it was getting close to dinner and it was time to head home.  I wanted to get one picture of the boys with pumpkins before we headed out...surprisingly, Hudson was cooperative however Kemper was not.  Thus is life with 2 boys I suppose.

We stopped at our favorite local pizza place and had a nice dinner with the Schmidts.  While we were waiting for our food, I recognized the little girl at the next table as one of the little girls who had walked Kemper to the office the day I picked him up early.  I pointed her out to Kemper and the next thing we know, she's standing next to our table chatting with Kemper and Gavin.  Us parents were cracking up at their little side conversation and couldn't help but laugh when Gavin's dad asked Kemper if he had told her about what we did that day.  Kemper looked slightly annoyed and said, "yeah, we already talked about that" and turned back to talk to the little girl.  It just cracks us up that he's 5 and apparently already girl crazy.  (As a side note, I've seen some parents of girls ranting on Facebook about their girls coming home saying they have boyfriends and how inappropriate it is.  I hope people realize that while we think it's funny, we in no way think that Kemper truly has girlfriends and if so, there is no harm in their friendship.  They are 5 and all talk. Am I being too nonchalant about this?)

All in all, a great trip to the pumpkin patch even it was insanely hot!  Kemper's class is going back for a field trip and maybe we'll get a chance to go back (or try a different one) as a family one more time before Halloween (I can hear James groaning as I type that). :)