k-strat: Pumpkin picking and Eleanor's first field trip

We decided to go pumpkin picking as a family the first weekend in October because we knew we had a lot going on before Halloween. It was a pretty warm Saturday so we opted not to take the ferry over to Surry for the first time in four years and just decided to go to Pumpkinville in Toano where we've gone in the past before Eleanor was born. It is less of a commitment in case we all got too warm (which we did). They had a slide the girls enjoyed going down, a hayride and bounce castles you could pay to go on, and a couple of corn mazes. We went through both of the corn mazes - the larger of which was way off to the right on the other side of the field of pumpkins so no one else was going through it when we went through. Then we picked out a pumpkin and called it a day.

The girls both had fun until they got a bit overheated, so we were glad we weren't too far away from home.

The following week, Eleanor's class had their first field trip to Holly Fork Farms! Jane and I came along and it was a lot of fun. First, it was in the 50's and sunny, so great weather to be in a pumpkin patch, and second, Eleanor was just so excited to go on her first field trip, so overall a great day. The girls each got to pick their own little pumpkin out of the patch.

Then they took an animal tour where they saw chickens, pot-bellied pigs, rabbits, and other animals.

We took a break for snacks and then Eleanor's class got to go on a hay ride around the farm.

They had a play area for the kids - Eleanor's favorite by far was a big pit where you essentially threw hay around. I stayed toward the edge - looked kind of hard to breathe in there with all the hay flying. There were also bean bag tosses, slides, cars to play on, and a corn kernel pit to play in.