'Tis the season for...pumpkins!

You may remember Lily's report from the pumpkin patch last year. Since Halloween is approaching yet again, we figured it would be fun to go to a pumpkin patch again. But this time, we went all out! From talking to our friends, the consensus seems to be that the best pumpkin patch experience in town can be found at Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center.


We actually went twice...once a couple weeks ago, and then again this past weekend. Here's some pictures from the first trip. Behold pumpkins!

This place is pretty cool...as the name implies, it's a working nut farm, but they also grow corn (as you can see), have a bunch of animals, and of course, pumpkins! This day, they had this big craft fair going on, but in general they have pony rides, hayrides, corn mazes, and all sorts of fun stuff. We didn't mess with any of that other stuff, though...we're here for pumpkins!






Here we have mama and Lily lounging amidst pumpkiny splendor.







Lily plays the pumpkin bongos with dada.








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As a hapy coincidence, we ran into our friends the Heistumann's. Here you see Lily and baby Alexandra regarding each other across a sea of orange.

What's going on? Do pumpkins make Lily sneeze?

Unfortunately, Lily wasn't really feeling that well...she'd had yet another bout of fever over the previous few days. We'd brought her here figuring a bit of fresh air would do her good, and she did have fun, but as you can see, she also got pretty tuckered out. So we kept this trip relatively short, but resolved that we would come back again before the Halloween season was over.

So this past weekend, Nono, Nana, Toto Kevin and Uncle John came to visit, so it seemed like a perfect time to go back to the farm. As our first stop, mama and Lily sit down for a photo op in a grove of squash...

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...but Lily quickly demonstrates that, unlike last time, she doesn't want to just sit around, and starts climbing across the squash in search of REAL pumpkins. So we turned her loose in the field with the REALLY big pumpkins in it. Go get 'em, Lily!

Yeah, definitely less tired...

Eventually, as she did last year, Lily began to commune with the pumpkins. But this time, it seemed to have almost religious overtones. Here you see her praying with a pumpkin.

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Later, as mama looks on, she gives a benediction to another...

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Eventually, she starts preaching, as a crowd of pumpkins gather...

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We figured this was getting a bit out of hand, so we pulled her out of the crowd and gave her a chance to come back to her senses. As you can see, Lily was understandably chagrined at having let all the pumpkin adulation go to her head.

After a quick snack. we wandered over to the petting zoo area to check out the animals. Here you see Lily facing off with a donkey, trying to prove who is more stubborn. Lily won, of course.

We weren't allowed to feed the donkeys, but all these kids were feeding the goats. Seeing Lily gazing so wistfully, one of the little girls (conicidentally, named Lily! Lilys have to stick together) gave her some leaves to try feeding one herself. Check it out!

Alas, all good things must come to an end! But we all had a terrific time, and we'll be sure to go again!