Family Trip to Bates Nut Farm!

Today we took a family trip (Nick and Nicole came with us too!) to the Bates Nut Farm in Valley Center so that Madi could pick out her very first pumpkin for her very first Halloween! My oh my were we surprised at how large and in charge this nut farm is!!! We were expecting this cute little farm with a cute little pumpkin patch. I read on their website that on weekends, there's BBQ and face painting and the like, but I imagined a little tent with a guy cooking chicken on a BBQ grill or something. I didn't expect to see a super full parking lot, the size of Texas, with a pumpkin patch as large as the U.S. of A!! It was a madhouse too! The amount of people that were there was crazy! This nut farm was like a carnival, with games, and rows and rows of food, like BBQ, lemonade, funnel cake (which I HAD to get- topped with chocolate, strawberries, and whipped cream!), cotton candy, roasted corn on the cob, and tacos! They had a petting zoo, pony rides, tractor/hay rides, and a big straw maze surrounded by tall corn stalks and sunflowers. It was all a bit overwhelming, but totally so much fun!

The first thing we did was hit the nut store. We bought some yummy roasted cashews and some date (the fruit) rolls covered in coconut and almonds. After we bought our nuts, we decided to go nuts in the pumpkin patch! :) Take a look at some of these big beauties the Bates Nut Farm pumpkin patch had to offer!



We went through rows and rows and rows of pumpkins, and FINALLY! Madison told us, "I want that one!" :) And of course, whatever Madi wants, Madi gets... We couldn't believe our eyes at how large the pumpkin was that Madi wanted. But alas, we must abide to her demands... Daddy and Nick had to carry the pumpkin together, otherwise, Daddy would have gotten a hernia had he carried it himself:

Thank goodness we had a wheel barrow! We found out our pumpkin weighs 124 pounds!!! That's like one of me! :)

Madison had some fun dancing around on some pumpkins (with Dad's help).

She's never seen so many pumpkins in all her 19 weeks of life! Mommy hasn't either- and Mommy has lived a LOT longer than wee Madi.

I think us adults were having WAY too much fun at this pumpkin patch. Madison died of embarrassment at our immature actions and was telling people, "I don't know these people. I don't know where my Mom and Dad are!"



Madi finally decided to let loose and got into a silly mood with us adults. Here she is posing in the Bates Nut Farm cut-outs.


We had SOOO much fun at the Bates Nut Farm. We are SOOO gonna make this a family tradition to come every year! What a blast! :)