The Pumpkin Patch
by Denise

I always enjoy taking the kids to pumpkin patches in October. We don't go every year and this year is the first time that five of the six children have gone to a pumpkin patch together. Today, after a stroll through Long Grove, IL for their apple festival, we all headed to Krolls Farm in Waukegan, about 40 minutes from our house in Glenview.

RJ's pumpkinThe pumpkins were already picked, and piled up in piles, but the kids still had fun choosing their pumpkins. They have a bunch of those wooden boards with holes cut out for faces and let me tell you, it's harder than heck to get five kids to all get their faces in the holes facing outward at the same time. We never were successful but it was fun trying.

Krolls has a little petting zoo and the kids always enjoy feeding goats and petting donkeys and of course chasing chickens.

And then there was the corn maze. A really BIG corn maze that had questions and hidden pumpkin stations inside. The goal was to move through the maze and use the hole punch at 12 stations to show that you did find each station. Ideally you'd go in order... hahaha. Right. That did not happen. We were lucky to make it out alive and we never did find our way out of the "right" exit. We took advantage of the emergency exit after finally getting all 12 stations punched. Frustrating but amusingly so.

I want to know when pumpkin patches became so extravagent. When I was a kid, a pumpkin patch was just a pumpkin patch. You might find a hayride. Or maybe a tiny corn maze. But nothing like some of the really extravagent pumpkin patches bloggers have been visiting this month.

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    • Almost forgot about the glass pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay. There is an art festival in Gainesville that started doing a tiny glass pumpkin patch and I'd love a glass pumpkin - but I can never pick out the perfect one.

    Have you been to a pumpkin patch this year? Share your photos and blog posts, please. (Not sure where to find a pumpkin patch or corn maze near you? Check out pumpkin patches and more.)

    ~~Denise
    Flamingo House Happenings

    Submitted by Denise (view blog) on Sat, 10/04/2008 - 18:32

    Comments

     

    Pumpkin Patching

    Dear Denise,

    Hi! I am brand new to BlogHer (I joined today!) and I saw your story about going to the pumpkin patch and wanted to share my pumpkin patch story with you. I went to Didier Farm near Lincolnshire, Il last weekend with my BFF Karen. We went without any kids and had the time of our lives. We got down in the dirt and fed the pot bellied pigs, llamas, goats, geese, hairy-legged chickens, and the biggest rabbit/hare (?) I have ever seen! It's always fun to take the kids, but I also recommend going with a friend and getting to see first-hand why the kids love it so much. We didn't smell too good when we got home, but we had a blast!

     Leslie and Animals

     

     

    Submitted by wild boomba on Sun, 10/05/2008 - 13:38
     

    The animals

    Love the photos! thanks for sharing your pumpkin patch visit.

    ~Denise
    BlogHer Community Manager

    Flamingo House Happenings

    Submitted by Denise on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 15:36
     

    Love the Pumpkin Patches

    Pumpkin patches are a tradition in our family.  (My parents used to tell me that's where they found me.)

    They're so much more elaborate these days with the rides, souvenirs and food stands.  Last year, we bought our pumpkin at a local church that sells pumpkins every year as a fundraiser.  As a kid, we'd usually just buy them at the grocery store.

    This is a little off topic, but I just put up a post on my blog about Halloween costumes.
     
    I love Halloween.

    http://www.storyrhyme.com/jcsblog

    Submitted by JC on Mon, 10/06/2008 - 17:27
     

    Pumpkin purchases have definitely changed

    We also bought ours at the grocery store, back in the day. And then, vacant corners started doing pumpkin patches like Christmas Tree sales and then the move to full service, carnival like pumpkin patches on farms. Crazy, but fun!

    I love that a church does a pumpkin patch fundraiser, that's awesome.

    ~Denise
    BlogHer Community Manager

    Flamingo House Happenings

    Submitted by Denise on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 05:10
     

    Pumpkin Patches - Not what they used to be

    So true.  

    The church has been doing the fundraiser for quite a few years in conjunction with the local high school.  When we went last year, they'd partnered with the school's drill team.  So selling pumpkins for a good cause.

    Thanks for the link to Pumpkin Patches and More.  Just checked it out and found one in the area that we didn't know about!

    http://www.storyrhyme.com/jcsblog

    Submitted by JC on Tue, 10/07/2008 - 05:56
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