A REAL Pumpkin Patch!

  On Thursday, 9/30 we went to Happy Apple Orchard near Penrose, CO, about 45 minutes from our house.  There is no admission, you just pick what you want and pay when you are done.  It started off being a cool day so I dressed everyone in layers and their boots (Daddy and Ava needed to official break theirs in), just in case.  Good thing because about 1/2 hr into searching for pumpkins, we all had to shed our sweaters...that's CO weather for ya!  Daddy was the search team for the biggest and best pumpkins.  He pretty much searched the whole field.  I had to insist that we found the best and could we please move on to the raspberries! (Who does that sound like?...)

The apples, pears and blackberries were all done for the season, but there were some raspberries left to pick.  We had so much fun searching and picking raspberries!  I told Ava we were searching just like bears would for the sweetest and reddest berries.  So then she started calling us Mama Bear, Papa Bear, Sister and Brother bear (from the Berenstein Bear books!).  It was so cute.  We picked about 4 pints of raspberries, almost 1 1/2 hrs later we were tired, hungry, and satisfied.

 Bubby was so good!  I carried him in the front carrier, which was a mistake because the kid has to weigh 20 lbs!  He kicked and talked and loved seeing Sissy's reaction to finding our bounty of yummy goodness!  I made 1 quart of raspberry jam and the pumpkins we got cost us 40 bucks (24, 17, 10, 7 pounds !), but the experience was priceless!!!

After we stashed our bounty in the car it was now time for lunch.  And after a morning like that who could stop and eat fast food?  So I suggested going into town to find a small town cafe, they always have the best home cooked food!  We found a little cafe called the Gooseberry and took our time eating delicious food and giggling about the day.