Andelin Family Farm

When Living Social offered a deal for Andelin Family Farm, it was too good to pass up.  Plus, it would be fun to try out a different pumpkin patch in the area.  I was pretty disappointed to find out that the farm closes at 3pm.  Especially when we arrived at 3:15.  Major bummer.  I felt a little bit like Clark Griswold.  I thought I had planned it perfectly, too.  Every Wednesday is an early release from school for Jack, so we planned to go on that day to make the most of the extra time.  Oh well…..next time we will be sure to check for the times of operation.

So, we drove all the way out to the farm again the next day.  Since Jack was still in school, it was a nice time for Ben to get some extra attention and have some fun on his own.

Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm

We decided to let Jack play hooky from school so that we could go have some fun and make some memories.  We went to Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland, CA.  My mom and brothers went with us with their kiddos.  We all had a great time.  There were tons of activities for them: panning for marbles (the biggest hit of the day), fun slides, backhoe equipment & a sand box, pony rides, forts, all sorts of fun things to climb in and on, old tractors, a train ride, and Ben’s favorite was the big mound of dirt that he used as a slide.  I had to strip him down to his chonies to allow him inside the car at the end of the day.

Pumpkin Patch–Round 1

Saturday afternoon, we took the boys to Ferrari Farms Pumpkin Patch.  This was the first of many more trips before Halloween arrives.  The boys just love the pumpkin patch.  This year, Wayne and Jack made their way through the 5 acre Corn Maze.  While we waited, Ben and I went on a hayride, visited some farm animals and Ben bounced in the bounce house.

Taylor Creek

On Sunday, I took the boys to the Kokanee Salmon Festival at Taylor Creek in Lake Tahoe.  It was amazing to see all of the fish spawning only a few feet away from where we stood.  Wayne was working for the 6th straight day (only coming home to sleep on the first 2 nights) so this was the perfect thing to keep us sane and busy.  One of Jack’s friends from school and her mom and brother came along with us.  It was a great time!  The kids all had their walking sticks to help them along on their 1/2 mile hike.  We had a picnic lunch, did some fish artwork, visited a few booths, said hello to Smokey the Bear and took in the beautiful scenery.   All four of the kids racked out in the car on the way home. 

Here is Ben taking his walking stick for a ride.