Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Me, the Kids, and the Pumpkin Patch

Posted by CheapRunnerMike

While we were in Chicago I told Jackson that we could go to the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins to carve.  We live in a subdivision that is about 15 years old and prior to our neighbourhood being there it was basically farmland.  One of the original farms still remains and they will sell seasonal produce throughout the spring, summer and fall and of course they have pumpkins right now.  I knew that the grocery store had pumpkins on for 88 cents, but I was willing to pay a little bit more for the ultra-local and more than anything for the experience the kids would have.

Saturday came and Jackson was ready to go as soon as he got up…me not so much.  I finally had a day to just chill and I took advantage by enjoying my morning coffee and got caught up on some blogs I had fallen behind on.  By 10:30 it was time to get going though, we didn't want to miss out on our pumpkins!

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It was cool and rainy, but the pumpkin patch was hopping with activity.  Lots of people must have had the same idea we did and were set for afternoons filled with pumpkinesque activities.  The Pumpkins were all separated into piles based on the size (read:  price)…I quickly shuttled the kids past the big ones to the adequately sized $3 pile.  We would find our pumpkins here :)

Upon careful inspection we found three ideal candidates and loaded up the wagon to put our pumpkins in the truck.

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After we took the wagon back we decided to take a quick look around the farm…there we found a 1451 lb pumpkin that we knew we had to get our picture taken with.

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Then it was off to Starbucks for a coffee and a couple of pumpkin cookies for the kids before heading home to turn our pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns.  I lobotomized the pumpkins and the kids set about scooping out the guts -- or as Jackson called it "pumpkin brains".

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The kids aren't quite at the point where I will let them wield knives, so they came up with ideas and drew them on paper for me to carve out.  Here's Jackson's masterpiece, his Angry Pig (I think it's from Angry Birds)

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And Kennedy just loves The Nightmare Before Christmas so she wanted to do Zero the dog…

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The last jack-o-lantern was mine, so I kept with Kennedy's Nightmare theme and carved Jack the Pumpkin King.  Here's the finished product all lit up…

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We also made use of the pumpkin seeds we collected and made ourselves a nice little snack…just toss these bad boys in a little bit of olive oil with some seasoning salt and cayenne pepper, throw in the oven and deliciousness ensues.

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All in all it was a fun day with the kids that hopefully built some lasting memories for them.  After all, it did cost me $9!

My boots picked up a souvenir at the farm as well which created a bit of a smell when I grabbed them to wear to church the next day…Michelle and I kept looking for who the smelly guy was but couldn't find him.  Then later that afternoon it really smelled in the Jeep (not quite the new car smell you hope for).  I checked my boots and sure enough…

I was able to get out for a good 10 mile run on Sunday after church…the weather has really taken a cold turn here this past week.  We are waking up to temperatures right around freezing in the mornings and it isn't getting much warmer from there.  I've had to get out the the running tights for my last few runs.  At least my butt looks great legs are cozy :)

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I'm using the hashtag #furtherfasterforever on my instagram run pics now…you can sign up on their website too.  It is a community of athletes who encourage, inspire and challenge one another by posting their workouts and accomplishments online.  So sign up and join me on instagram with #furtherfasterforever…share your victories!

What is your favourite pumpkin-related activity?

 

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I'm @mikecooke78

8 comments:

  1. Pumpkin seeds, pumpkin pie, pumpkin coffee, pumpkin custard!!
    Love it all!
    I think I follow you on Instagram already?

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  2. Yes you do follow me, as you should!
    All excellent pumpkin choices, though I have yet to try the custard. I just figured that with half of October already gone I had better get in some sort of pumpkin post before my blogger license was revoked.

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  3. Pumpkin chucking! Just kidding!!!
    We haven't gone to the pumpkin patch in several years - maybe this weekend the boys will join me!!!

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  4. Oh boy, how did I miss pumpkin chucking! That sounds like fun haha
    Good luck getting the boys out to the pumpkin patch with you and watch your step out there :)

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  5. Mmmm roasted pumpkin seeds. YES.

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  6. Oh ya, a nice throwback to my childhood days

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  7. We love going to the corn maze!! The pumpkins look so cute!

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  8. I need to find a corn maze near us, the kids would love it!

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