For years now, soon after the autumnal equinox passes, we've made our annual pilgrimage to the local pumpkin patches. My childhood memory lacks any recollection of going to these places. I guess Hawaii and California don't have a lot of pumpkin patches. Damon also never went to pumpkin patches as a kid, and
because neither of us went to places like these as a kids I think we enjoy them just as much as the kids do. [Although I sometimes wonder if we would enjoy them more (or less) now if maybe we had. It's like My Little Pony or G. I. Joe. Do we think of them fondly because we enjoyed them when we were young, or because they were cool for what they were?]
Anyhow, these days, the pumpkin patches have gotten (or maybe they always were...) so gimmicky that I have grown somewhat tired of them. Of course, some are better than others, both in what they offer, and how much they charge.
Some places charge a hefty admission fee (for all family members) just to walk in the gate - often $10 a person or more! The nice side of that is that it's all-inclusive. No extra charge for the hay ride or the corn maze or the play ground. While it costs a lot, I do like the Disney approach here.
Other places have the orchard/pumpkin patch free to access, but charge separately for the playground, hayride, pony ride, petting zoo, face painting, tax filing, etc. Going with kids to these places can cost just as much, if not more, than the one-price-for-all places, with the added treat of being reminded that you are spending money every time you turn around to do something. And don't even try to tell me "
Oh, but you don't have to do all that other stuff..." Hahahaha! Really?
Last year, we tried to mix it up and went to a
corn maze for the first time, and didn't do any of the other pumpkin patches. It was still one of those places that charge you admission just to get in, but it was a nice change.
But this year, even though we will be going to one of the take-all-your-money places with the Twins Club (who is helping with some of the costs) I was looking for a true pumpkin patch or apple orchard, with nothing more than a patch/orchard, a country store, and a port-a-potty (remember, we have kids...).
A bit of hunting and I found Reed Valley Orchard. The fact that they had a pretty
crappy webpage confirmed that this was a low key operation.
PERFECT!Soon we found ourselves on the back roads of Kentucky, passing tobacco and corn fields, horse and cattle (and alpaca) farms. Yup, that's tobacco...
After winding our way to the orchard, including a charming "dirt" road (dirt = large rocks), which led to an impromptu "buh-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h" sing-along with the whole family, we found the orchard...
Just in case you weren't sure, parking is available...
We checked out the little store (OK, I only got a shot of Kestian on the porch, but it was a cute little store)...
And we headed out. This was a gimmicky as it got. Can you find Kestian peeking through one of the holes?
I just love the cute little signs...
The kids each took a wagon and we started on our mission...
Some apples were in better season than others, so Damon led the way to the best rows...
The kids happily picked away. I have to say, it is very tempting to just keep picking apples, but unless you have some major pie-making or canning plans, you really have to keep yourself reigned in. We tasted samples of apples in the store and decided on three varieties (Golden Delicious - which taste
nothing like the Golden Delicious in the store...much sweeter, Jonagold, and Russett). We let the kids pick 3 each of the variety. Even though we left with 18 apples, we could have picked apples for hours...
Jonagold...
Golden Delicious...
Just a side note... you may have noticed that a lot of these posts lately have been about what we have been doing with Kestian and Adelaide. Of course, Fenton is always included in our activities as much as he can be. It's just that at 17 months, he's not able to really get involved in many of these things. I don't think he really appreciates the zoo or the orchard like the older kids do. I'll be writing about him soon....
We also checked out the chickens they had for sale. The lady there said we could take the rooster if we could find him. "If he hasn't been eaten already, we'll be eatin' him when we find him."
Now, in the grand world of twindom, you have to understand that the expected level of fairness is constantly hopped on goof balls. I mean, even more so than for non-twin siblings. If something happens (or doesn't happen) for one kid it had
better happen (or not happen) for the other. The kids' sole role in life (other than to not listen to anything I say, and trash the playroom, and never stop talking) is just to make sure that this rule is strictly enforced. And when something goes awry....well, it's all out Armageddon. (Mom, Dad, stop laughing...)
This outing included such a tragic, unfair event. Specifically, Adelaide saw alpacas out her window, but Kestian didn't. So we told Kestian that he would see them on our way home. Only we took a wrong turn and ended up going a different way home. It also didn't help that the kids were hungry. So what do you do with an upset, grumpy, hungry boy after a wonderful get-back-to-nature outing? Why, McDonald's of course...
In the end, we were happy with our haul. We went the weekend before last and are just now finishing up the apples we brought back (eating them almost every meal!)...
Until next time...
