The Great Pumpkin.... Ranch

We found an existing little treasure in our area; The Pumpkin Ranch, which is just a few miles from our home.

To preface: The weekend before last, I wanted to take Ramsey to the pumpkin patch at the fairgrounds to get pumpkins for both him and Connor (Connor was at his Mom's that weekend), but, on the way home from church, we drove into the lot, and it started to pour down rain.  The line to the patch was seemingly a mile long, so, sadly, we drove out of the parking lot and just came home.  Wuh wuh wuhhhhh

I decided this past week that I'd would look into the nearby acreage that sold pumpkins.  Much to my surprise, I found that it was a more interactive and fun environment for the family.  The Pumpkin Ranch has a few acres where you can pick all of the pumpkins, gourds, little jack pumpkins, and squash that you want - for a very reasonable price.   They also have provide hay rides for everyone, plus take the kids around in the little pumpkin train.  (Connor's really too big for the train and Ramsey was too little to go by himself - he'd probably jump out!)

So, Connor and I strapped on Ramsey's harness (oh yes, he loves to run and he... is... FAST - so, as crazy as it looked, it WORKED to keep him among us) and grabbed one of the wagons The Pumpkin Ranch provides and went about our search for The Great Pumpkin.  :-)

They have acres of pumpkins in many different colors, gourds in lots of shapes and sizes, plus a few different types of edible squash.  Yum!     Ramsey headed straight for the little white jack pumpkins.  Connor was in search for the biggest pumpkin he could find!

Ramsey wouldn't look up for a picture; he was far too engulfed in his precious little white jack pumpkin.

And in his little gourd here....

And looking at ALL OF THE OTHER PUMPKINS and scenery here....

And probably more pumpkins on the ground here.  Literally, this kid was entranced by the surroundings!   If he wasn't picking up gourds along the way, he was playing in the dirt, picking up sticks, and crawling on big pumpkins.   When we were heading back to the barn, the kid was covered in dirt, like Pig Pen from Peanuts!

Connor  found his Great Pumpkin.   Connor thought (and I happened to think so too) that it was the largest one they had. And, it was white to boot, so... cool!  :-)

When we headed back to the barn, Connor took charge and pulled the heavy wagon back.  But, Ramsey wanted to help too.  It was a very sweet; precious moments!

Now, we're trying to figure out what to do with the pumpkins.  Should we paint them?  Should we carve them into jack-o-lanterns?  Should we carve intricate scenes or faces on them?  Hmmm....  We have some time to think and do.

But, nonetheless, we are looking forward to doing this next year!  This will be a new family tradition.  :-)