Pumpkins at McCelland Dairy Farm

On Sunday, we drove up to Sonoma County and visited McClelland Dairy Farm on the way back home.  They had pumpkins on the vine, so Alex and Julia enjoyed checking out all of the choices and picking a special one each.  They also had a viewing area for the dairy cows, who were being milked at the time, which the kiddos enjoyed.  Add in a hay maze and a giant sandbox filled with wheat kernels and you have two happy kiddos.  To top it off, we had some hot chocolate and a pumpkin milkshake as a treat.

Pumpkin Carving

Julia was very curious to see what was going on.

Alex worked hard to get all of the seeds out.

Grandpa got in on the carving too

More seeds

She was not excited about putting her hands in the pumpkin at first, but once she got started, she was all for it!

The finished products.  Alex's creation, Grandpa's creation and Julia's happy pumpkin

Orchard Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we all went to Orchard Nursery to see their pumpkin patch and Fall plants.  They had tons of pumpkins of all kinds, as well as live music, some farm animals and of course, their usual fabulous selection of plants.  We found some pumpkins to buy, bought some lantana and peas and Julia found a "playhouse" which she would like as well.  Never mind that it was actually a chicken coop!  It was just her size.

Surprise!

Alex and Johnny checking out the pumpkin selection at G&M Farms

Silly Johnny and silly David riding on the cow train behind Alex and me.

Alex enjoying a sandwich practically as big as him at the park.

Johnny, Jeffrey and Alex showing us their bellies

Alex thoroughly enjoying the balloons after we got home

On Saturday, Alex and I had plans to meet Shirley and Hua and their crews at the pumpkin patch in Livermore.  When we arrived, we met Hua and her family and she said that Shirley was on her way.  While we were talking, I then saw Carrie, Pat and Johnny coming out of the pumpkin patch with some balloons.  I thought that it was quite a coincidence that we all ended up at the same place, especially that far out.  It wasn't until Carrie mentioned that the balloons were for me that I realized that something was up.  It ended up that David had planned for everyone to meet there and then head over to a local park for a picnic.  We spent some time at the pumpkin patch, took a ride on the cow train, picked out a few pumpkins and then went to a nice park to picnic.  

Thanks to everyone for bringing all of the yummy food and drinks and for helping to make it such a fun, surprising event!  We even had a Marjolaine cake from Montclair Baking....super yummy!  The playground had a great play structure so all of the little ones had a fun time running around and checking everything out.  We'll have to plan another picnic sometime soon, because I think everyone had a fun time.  Thanks to all who made it such a nice birthday week!

Pumpkin Patch!

Oooh....so many pumpkins to choose from!

This one is so big, I can sit on it!

Loading more loot into the wagon

Driving the John Deere tractor, of course.

Hide and seek in the corn

More farm fun.

Deep thinking in the pumpkin patch

Cool tractor windmill

Well, it is that time of year again....yay Fall!  To celebrate the season, we visited Farmer John's Pumpkin Patch in Half Moon Bay to check out the pumpkins, and again this year, they did not disappoint.  So many cool varieties of pumpkins and squash, the John Deere tractor, rows of corn to play in, a teepee, and haystacks.  All in all, plenty of fun activities, without being crazy and corny or expensive.  Alex definitely has a penchant for the unique pumpkins as evidenced by what he was picking out yesterday.  We found some nice ones to bring home and he also picked out a nice carving pumpkin to bring to school for the class to carve/decorate.  

It was a bit foggy when we first arrived in Half Moon Bay, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day and the pumpkin patch was definitely busier than last year when we went.  Afterwards, we went downtown for lunch, where unfortunately Alex was stung by a bee.  He was a little trooper though, and was quite easily distracted by a trip to the Half Moon Bay Feed and Fuel, which is always a hit.  Every time we are in town, we go over to the Feed and Fuel to check out the chicks and the rabbits in the back of the store.  Alex loves to watch them and the guys who work there are always nice enough to bring one or two out so that you can pet them.  

As we were getting in the car to go home, Alex said, "let's go to the beach."  Quite appropriate, since almost every time we are there, we do go to the beach.  We stopped by the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve on the way home, but unfortunately, it was nowhere near to low tide, so we couldn't go down to the tide pools, so we just took a little cruise around one of the trails and looked out on the ocean from above.  Quite the fun day, despite the fact that we missed having our Lee family friends with us this year.  Maybe next year, right?

Pumpkin Time!

Hey Dad, can you pull us around really fast in this thing?


Wow, wow, wow! (one of Alex's favorite expressions)
Look at all of the pumpkins!


Pumpkin fetching is serious work, you know.


Driving the tractor was a popular activity

I can lift this, I know I can!


A family pic...we don't seem to get many of those.

It is hard to believe it is already Fall again. It seems like just a few months ago when we visited the pumpkin farm last. We had an awesome pumpkin farm trip today with the Graham-Lee family! We set out early this morning to Farmer John's Pumpkin Farm in Half Moon Bay, and it was worth the drive. The boys had so much fun with the pumpkins, the big John Deere tractor, the tunnels and the straw piles. There was a great variety of super cool pumpkins and reasonable prices to boot. Afterwards we went for lunch in Half Moon Bay to round out a memorable pumpkin patch trip. Happy Fall everyone!

Update from Oakland

Hi all! We had a nice weekend here. The temperatures have cooled off significantly from last week, so it was quite nice. It is still rather smoky from all of the wildfires in California, but hopefully that will die down soon.

As you can see, Alex is enjoying his Exersaucer, in fact, even more than before, as he can now control his movements really well and can spin around and take in all of the toys. Looks like the elephant was quite tasty! He continues to surprise us with the things he does. He tries to sit up alot and has started to notice his big sister Xena alot more. Now he gets quite excited and screeches when she is running around. He tracks her and just seems to be quite curious about her now, whereas before he didn't really notice her much.

We had a fun day today with the Wankel's at their home in Sunnyvale. We got a preview of what Alex will be like at 2 years and then at 4 years----we should never have a dull moment! It was nice to hang out and have a yummy lunch with the whole family.

As you can see in the picture above, Alex's pumpkins are coming up. We'll keep you updated on their progress. There are three seedlings in the big pot outside of the front door, so we check on them often.

By the way, how cute are those little hands in Daddy's hands? Adorable how he holds onto Dad!

Hope all is well with everyone!