Pumpkin Patch Hawaiian Style

Yes, it's Hawaii.

Yes, you can see the beach from the pumpkin patch.

Yes, it's warm and not as cool as pumpkin patches on the mainland....

but, it's fall! I love fall. Texas never had serious falls- the weather would get cool, then hot again, and then cool- until it was about November...that was until I moved to Lubbock and then there were always cooler temperatures starting in September or October. I loved it. This year I took out our Halloween decorations in September because I couldn't handle it. I wanted to put out the warm smelling candles and enjoy the pumpkins. Claire is loving it. She plays with the decorations and wants to carry around spiders and pumpkins. She loves to have them watch her eat too.

This past weekend we took a trip to the pumpkin patch. We told her we were going the night before and we talked about picking out a pumpkin. We woke up on Sunday morning and dressed her up in her long sleeved pumpkin dress. Not the most practical choice for the Hawaiian pumpkin patch, but she was for sure the cutest pumpkin picker around. We met the Oren and Holcomble families at the patch and had fun.

There was yummy food set up- we for sure got giant mason jars of homemade lemonade. Claire and Justin fed animals, which was a huge step from last year because she tried to crawl up me last year to get away from them. She loved the donkeys, sheep, turkey, turtles, and the most odd looking chickens I've ever seen. She refused to get in the cow train with Ryan and Jack. I even tried to bribe her with fruit snacks without any success. We ended our visit with walking in the patch to find some pumpkins. I love that she is talking so much- so my favorite quote from the patch was "this punkin is heavvvvy".

Since then she has shown everyone on Skype her pumpkin and has had it watch her eat all day today. I think this year we will choose paint over carving for Claire. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

This particular patch has only been open for 3 years this year and it will be really great as it gets bigger. They bring the pumpkins in from the mainland in big Matson shipping crates and then they place them out in the field. While it's not cutting them straight off the vines- we get to go pick pumpkins out and Claire enjoyed herself...even if we were in shorts and slippers :)