Bates Nut Farm/Pumpkin Patch

Whoo-hoo! We had our 3rd Annual King Family trip to Bates Nut Farm/Pumpkin Patch yesterday. It was SO much fun!

The 1st year we went it was sooo cold and we were all bundled up. Last year it was hot with santa ana winds blowing, and our visit got cut short because of the horrid fires. This year it was just plain HOT. Shannon suggested that maybe we'll get snow for next year's visit....I say NOT! LOL...Mama is NOT a 'snow' person, so I'm putting in my order now for good weather!

I was so excited about this family outing that on Friday I put the camera battery on it's charger, for maximum 'juice', and even washed my van inside and out. Got the camera in the van Friday night so I wouldn't forget it, and Saturday morning we were ready to roll!

Surprisingly, the crowd didn't seem to be as big as usual, and we got good parking in spite of the fact that we didn't arrive till around 11am. We decided to take our usual family photo first, so up to the hay bales we headed. I pulled my camera out of the case to hand it to Melissa (Katie's sister) so she could take the picture. Turned it on....and NOTHING. What the??? Oh CRAP. The camera works better if it has a BATTERY in it! Yep, you guessed it. I left the battery in it's charger....at HOME. UGH! Way to go Penny, but alas, Shannon to the rescue...she snapped all kinds of pictures, so as soon as she got them posted to her Myspace page, I went in a 'stole' them...LOL...so now I have my own collection of the day's events. Yay!

After the family pic, it was time to turn everyone loose in the Pumpkin Patch, armed with their wheelbarrows, in search of their perfect pumpkin. I have to admit, everyone has a pretty keen eye for pumpkin picking-and Baby Peyton? Well, she was just happy to sit among those big orange 'things'...Alissa & Justen had fun going through the hay maze with Star & Jeremy (Katie's little sister & bro). After the maze, and the traditional hayride, we had a bite of lunch, then it was off to Bates Store for some sweet shopping. Yumm-o! LOTS of sweet things to buy!

Time to head home for a new tradition we've started after our Bates trip/pumpkin carving. A cookie/goodie bake and dinner! We met back up at Jimmy & Jessica's for the festivities, and we had such a wonderful evening. They guys took the little kids out back, where they all got busy gooping out pumpkin 'guts', and creating their 'masterpieces'

Meanwhile, back inside the house, the ladies got right down to bedrock and baked their little brains out, and some of us (who shall remain nameless...LOL) got downright messy! But the finished products were simply sinfully yummy, and a good time was had by all.

Bates has a Christmas celebration too...we're discussing going there then as well-but only if there's NO snow!