Bates Nut Farm 2011

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I love traditions. And when I had kids I knew I wanted to create some traditions with my little family that we could continue to do every year. One of those traditions was going to a pumpkin patch every year. And not just any pumpkin patch, Bates Nut Farm. Ok... so no, it's not called Bates Pumpkin Patch but this farm is a great location for family fun during the Fall season. 

We checked out the awesomely huge pumpkins and picked out some nice medium sized ones to take home. Then we headed over to ride the tractor train. This is one of our son's favorite things to do at the farm. We bought a (very affordable - $7.75) pumpkin package that included: 

• 1 pumpkin
• 1 tractor ride
• 1 straw maze

So after we went on the tractor ride we headed over to the maze. Now this isn't a huge, can't see over the top of the corn and hay type of maze (and there's no way we could get lost and have to call 911 to get us out of there) but it's still fun and perfect for the little ones. E made his way to each stamp station and placed a stamp in the coordinating box on his stamp card. At the end of the maze you're supposed to turn in your card to get a prize but E lost interest and wanted to check out what else the farm had to offer... animals!

Now we asked E when we first got there what he wanted to do. And he responded by saying he wanted to ride the ponies and pet the animals. So we headed over to the ponies. And to our surprise E didn't want to go on them. He wanted to go play with the goats and chickens. So we paid our entrance to the petting zoo and headed in.

We were greeted with goats and sheep of different sizes, some chickens roaming around and some adorably cute little bunnies (and a larger bunny). Both kids pet just about every single animal in the corral. And they had a great time doing it. Miss M walked around while holding Daddy or Mommy's hand and kept pointing to each animal she wanted to go to. Once E saw the little bunnies there was no getting him away from them. He wanted to feed them, hold them and cuddle them until we had to drag him out.

After we pet every animal on the farm we headed up to the general store to see what goodies we could score this year. Last year I indulged in some delicious pumpkin fudge so I wanted to try something different. Right away the kids spotted the barrels of candy so we let them get a small amount to take home. And I ended up choosing a bag of walnuts as my treat. I'm still thinking of what I want to make (or bake) with them. I'm sure I'll post a recipe of what I decide over on the cooking blog.

All in all it was a great family day. And I hope the tradition stays alive and we continue to enjoy Bates Nut Farm for years to come!

My Five Fall Favorites {Blog Hop}

One of my favorite seasons over the year has always been fall (my all time favorite, however, is spring... it may just be because my birthday marks the first day of Spring most years). I LOVE the smells, the weather and the fun family friendly activities that fall brings. So when my friend, Joann, over at A Mommy's Slice of the Pie proposed that we write about our five favorite things about Fall I already started to write this blog post in my head.

1. Apple Picking 
Last year we started a family tradition of going apple picking in Julian with the kids. I want to continue this tradition every year to get the kids ready for Fall. We had such a fun time wandering around the Raven Hill Orchard and eating apples as we went. My son had such a fun time that when I asked him if he wanted to do it again he asked that we jump in the car now to head out!

2. Pumpkins
I love everything about pumpkins. Using them for decorations, growing them (we have little sprouts coming out of the ground now!) and eating them. I love baking with pumpkin. Its healthy and delicious and the kids love it. My son may even have attempted to eat raw pumpkin in the previous years. And the best part about pumpkins is going to Bates Nut Farm to pick out a few to carve and a few to bake up! Oh, and my favorite pumpkin product of fall? Well... it's gotta be the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks! Yes, I know this doesn't actually have any pumpkin in it but it's oh so yummy!

3. Cool Nights
With the hot heat of August behind us (hopefully) I have really enjoyed the crisp cool air that comes in the evenings. We open all of the windows and the front door while we eat dinner at the table and enjoy the breeze as it sweeps through our home. Such a nice feeling! Plus I love being able to use a comforter again at night. The cool nights also mean that I can start running again in the evenings. I will love having that "me" time back again.

4. Fallen Leaves
Now this may sound silly. Especially because I live in Southern California and we really don't see season changes as drastically as others around the US and world do. But fallen leaves always make me love the season even more. The crunch under my foot and the layer of browns, golds and yellows is always a comforting thing. I also love going to a park with the kids and playing in the leaves. I need to get out and take some snapshots of the kids at the park one of these days! Perfect idea for our next little photo shoot...

5. Less Crowds
Living in a city that's a tourist destination to most usually means that our local hot spots are packed during the summer. Not to mention that the kids are out of school until the new year. But when the new school year starts and most of the tourists go back home I feel as though we have our local spots back to ourselves. The zoo and Sea World can be enjoyed at a leisurely pace and we can play at the beaches without running into or over someone. Not to mention the lines everywhere are a lot shorter. Gotta love that!

So those are my five Fall favorites... what are yours?

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Bates Nut Farm 2010

We started with the big pumpkins... or in E's words "heby!"

Than got a few shots on top of the Cinderella pumpkins

Uncle Andrew came along and played with E

E LOVED helping Daddy with the wheel barrow

Last year he was buried amongst the pumpkins... this year he's climbing over them!

My little rascal

Heby! = Heavy

What did I do?

More Uncle Andrew fun

Whaaa??

He sure does love his apples

Goat!

Staying far away from the pecking ostriches

Duck!!

Finishing our morning off at the hay maze

Bates Nut Farm

We left early this morning to head out to Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center with our neighbors, Bill, Renee, Billy & Henry. It was really fun and I am hoping to make it a tradition for our little family. E had a great time sitting with all of the pumpkins. He crawled all over them and tried to eat a few.

He got to see goats, chickens, geese and pigs. He sampled some homemade ice cream that's right up the street from us (sadly they were out of pumpkin ice cream so I'll be heading over there before Halloween to sample some). And he even got to ride in a wheel barrow. Fun times! I'll post more pictures later!