an annoyingly perfect day at the pumpkin patch

Before I had kids, I never stepped foot into a pumpkin patch. Two kids later, a day at the pumpkin patch is a time-honored tradition, or at the very least guaranteed to be annoying. Whoever thought up the idea of foregoing actual farming to plant a huge pumpkin patch, then charge people to enter, is a genius! Charge $32 for three for the privilege of picking-your-own-pumpkin (pumpkins cost extra) is way more profitable than growing food to feed humans. Oh, they plant corn, but they cut out an intricate corn maze or haunted corn maze ($20/person). Seriously genius.

Yesterday, after a week of cooler weather, it was a cloudless, sunny sky, 80 degree day in Colorado. Which means it was hot. Which makes a trip to the pumpkin patch even more annoying. Can you say, “Oh, yes I’ll gladly pay $10 in bottled water for sweaty, cranky kids”? Anderson Farms in Erie, CO boasts 2 corn mazes, plus a terror of corn maze*; wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch; hay maze for the little kids; live farm animals including goats, chickens, llamas & rabbits; gourd launching; face painting*; food*; and a variety of other amusements* for your little kiddos.

We did ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick the perfect pumpkin. Anderson Farms (unlike other pumpkin patches we have been to) plant all kinds of pumpkins…not just the ordinary orange variety, but the “Cinderella” white pumpkins, red pumpkins, gray pumpkins, green pumpkins and even “deformed” pumpkins. Most farms take these pumpkins out of the field then charge extra for them. Not here, and we got 2 perfect white and a good-sized orange pumpkin (for $16).

All in all, it was annoying with the crowds, hot weather, being nickel & dimed for everything. But it was also perfect. I spent the day with my kids, doing what they wanted to do, and I only complained once (okay, maybe twice). And the ride home was SO QUIET. The kids were so exhausted…that was worth the cost of the day.

Our pumpkins above: a true “Cinderella” pumpkin with Mrs. Potato Head Princess dress up kit; a painted orange pumpkin with spiders and googly eyes; a white pumpkin painted with a hairy spider, web and googly eyes.

*Extra charges apply, of course.