Fall Leaves Fall

It is turning into Fall in beautiful Portland, Oregon. This is the first time in my life that I have lived somewhere with a true Fall season and I have to say that I love it. The leaves on the tree are turning yellow and red and starting to fall and everywhere you turn there are Fall decorations.

In the spirit of Fall we took a family trip to a local pumpkin patch. As with other fall festivities, pumpkin patches are a big deal in this part of the country. There are hundreds within a short driving distance, but we went to Bauman Farms which was rated the best pumpkin patch in the Willamette Valley.

The pros of our time at the pumpkin patch were as follows:

The petting zoo- Merrick particularly loved the goats. They had these ramps for the goats to climb and it was really crazy to see these goats walking around 20 feet in the air. They also had some new baby goats that Merrick really enjoyed petting.




The food- I have to say that the food was plentiful and amazing. We had apple cider doughnuts and an apple cider slushy, both of which were fabulous.


The children's play area- To be honest this was a bit of a pro and a con. Merrick really enjoyed the slide, see-saw, trucks and tractor, but they had a track around the edge with bikes for the children to ride and while Merrick really wanted to ride them, he could not quite reach the pedals which really frustrated him.



The weather- In a place known for being cold and raining in the Fall and Winter, the weather could not have been more beautiful. It was sunny and relatively warm.


The cons of our time at the pumpkin patch were as follows:

The boots- This was far and away the biggest con of the day. While it was sunny that day, it had been raining in the days leading up to our outing and was muddy enough that Merrick needed rain boots. He had outgrown the rain boots we had for him and had to borrow the cousins' old rain boots. Unfortunately they just a little too big and if he lifted his feet too far off the ground, they fell off. I can't even count the number of times we had to put those stupid boots back on.

Merrick's age- While there were lots of fun activities like an apple cannon, zip line, and corn maze, Merrick was just to young and small to do many of the activities.

In spite of the cons of the day, I think that the day was a success. In the end, Merrick had a great time and we all enjoyed our time as a family and I think that means it was a great day.