the pumpkin patch

Pumpkin patches are a big deal around here. They have hayrides! and petting zoos! and elephant ears! and cow trains! and spooky train rides! and A GIANT CORN MAZE! etc... For Gianna's first Halloween we pretty much ignored the whole thing. The next year we went to Sauvie Island in search of a pumpkin patch and quickly became overwhelmed. Sensory Overload! Too much for a little person just 18 months old. So we hopped back in the car and kept driving around the bend on the island. And then we found this mellow farm. It has pumpkins, flowers and honey. That's it. It's not crowded at all and the pumpkins are lovely. My favorite are the Cinderella pumpkins, dark orange red and squatty. We love this farm and have come back every year since. When they are older I'm sure we'll check out a corn maze and a haunted train ride, but I really love the simplicity of this sweet farm. I like it so much that it deters me from growing pumpkins in our own garden.

The pumpkins' arrival on our porch has opened the floodgates of autumnal crafts and decorations in our home. Who knew that Haunted Gingerbread Houses were a thing? Trader Joe's, that's who. The gingerbread scent, while good, keeps pushing me forward to Christmas though. I think I'd make a dark chocolate cookie house instead. Maybe next year I will...